


Wish

by Redzik



Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, Nightwing (Comics), Under the Red Hood
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Canon-Typical Violence, Fluff, Gotham 1x16, Gotham reference, Headcanon, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Implied Dick Grayson/Jason Todd, Inspired by Fanfiction, Magic, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, eventual Dick Grayson/Jason Todd
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-19
Updated: 2017-06-18
Packaged: 2018-08-16 02:30:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 28
Words: 30,996
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8083183
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Redzik/pseuds/Redzik
Summary: He closed his eyes, counted to ten and opened them again. He pinched himself. Yep. Still wrong.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> **DISCLAIMER:** _I don't own Batman/Nightwing/Red Hood and it's characters._

Dick woke up to the feeling that something was wrong. He scanned his bedroom, but nothing was amiss. It wasn't until he got up and noticed that the floor was closer, like a lot closer than usual, that he realized what the wrongness was about.

He closed his eyes, counted to ten and opened them again. He pinched himself. Yep. Still wrong.

Well. Who would have thought? It looked like his dream was actually for real.

Dick smirked down his body. His childlike body. The boxers he was sleeping in pooled around his ankles. He kicked them aside for the time being and took a few steps, testing his movements. His balance was slightly off by being suddenly a lot smaller and lighter, but overall there was not too much of a change.

He eyed critically the boxers on the floor. He had to find some clothes. With that purpose in mind he walked to his closet, opened it and stared for a few seconds. Then hung his head with a groan. Why did he decide to clean his apartment the day before and hang all of his shirts, normally strewn around the room? After a few minutes of futile tugging and three damaged shirts he gave up and wandered to the bathroom in search of his laundry. Surely there had to be something in the laundry basket for him to wear until he would get something more fitting to his new size.

It took him a moment to win against the basket. That thing was too big and heavy for his small body and Dick regretted postponing the laundry for another day. A few minutes later he decided on the faded blue t-shirt, that ended past his knees. Still, it was irritating that the collar was constantly slipping from his shoulder, if not the right then the left. On any kind of pants he gave up entirely, as there was no way he could keep them up on his narrow waist.

The problem was, there was no way he could get out of his apartment wearing just only his shirt. That invited all kinds of trouble and had the real possibility of him ending at the police station and then in child service’s care. Definitely not something he wanted on his birthday. Not to mention he could barely reach the lock on the front door. Dammit, couldn’t he be a little taller?

He needed help, Dick decided, padding back to his bedroom. He climbed on the bed, took this phone from the nightstand and paused. Who to call? All of his family was in Gotham, most likely at the manor preparing the party for him. It would be inconvenient for one of them to come all the way to Blüdhaven just to pick him up. Especially since he insisted he was perfectly capable of getting to the manor by himself, thank you very much.

Well, almost all of his family. Apparently Red Hood showed up somewhere in the city last night. Dick didn’t meet him himself, but he heard the rumors.

Ha! It was perfect. Two birds with one stone. He’ll get help and a ride to Gotham and Jason wouldn’t have any excuses to not go to the party since he would already be there.

“Jay it is,” he said out loud and startled. That was his voice? All high and squeaky? “No way!” Yep, his new childlike voice. There was no way he was making a call sounding like that. Jason wouldn’t take him seriously.

He opened the message and typed with some difficulty. He needed to relearn using most things it seemed.

_My apartment. Need some help, please. Preferably sooner rather than later. Love ya! - DG-N_

There. It was vague and casual enough to get Jason interested without sending him into panic.

Now he had to wait.

Five minutes later Dick was dying of boredom. He jumped from the bed, phone in hand and padded to the living room. He climbed on the couch and reached for remote. He choose some cartoons to watch. That bought him another twenty minutes or so before he gave up on channel surfing. Now he was not only bored but hungry too. He sat on the couch impatiently for another five minutes in the hopes of Jason turning up. Finally he gave in to the hunger and wandered to the kitchen.

Dick stopped at the entrance, put his hand on his hips and surveyed the area pursuing his lips. He didn’t do groceries since he was heading to the manor and would bring a mountain of home cooked meals Alfred would force him to take. For the same reason he emptied his fridge the day before only leaving some things for dinner and milk for cereal for breakfast. A cereal, which was on the top shelf in the top cupboard. Well out of his current reach.

Dick pinched the bridge of his nose, sighing deeply and decided to get the milk first. He walked to the fridge and tugged at the handle. The door didn’t budge. He tugged harder, but the door stayed stubbornly closed. Just his luck, that the door to his fridge decided to adhere* with more force than usual. Grumbling under his nose Dick put his feet on the freezer for support making himself hang from his fridge like a monkey and pulled with all his might. The door burst open and Dick landed on his rear painfully. He winced and got up, massaging the pain away. At least taking out the milk was easy.

But actually getting to the milk? Not so much.

Dick vowed to himself to always buy milk in carton as he tried all he could think of to open the cap on the bottle. He finally given up as he felt frustrated tears prickling at his eyes. He was not going to cry like a baby, dammit! He was an adult!

With a growl he slammed the bottle on the counter and climbed on it himself. He eyed his knife rack. He knew he shouldn’t. It was stupid and dangerous, but he was way past caring. He was hungry and angry and there was no one to help him. He selected one of the smaller knives and checked his hold on it. When he was sure, the knife wouldn’t slip from his fingers he stabbed at the bottle. Yeah, he should aim higher than the middle, Dick realized as the milk spilled from the hole he had made and started to pool on the counter and dripping on the floor. With a sigh he reached for the glass and tried to save as much as he could.

With that done, came the time for cereal.

Dick carefully opened the cupboard over his head and reached for the top shelf. He managed to get the bowl with no problems, but he couldn’t reach the box in the back of the shelf. He shifted from his knees to his feet, knocking the glass in the process. The milk spilled all over his feet and the glass rolled off the counter to shatter on the floor. Dick gritted his teeth and reached for the cereal. He managed to get a hold on the box, but it was slipping, so he stood on his toes to get this little bit of reach to get a better grasp on his hard earned breakfast. Unfortunately he slipped on the wet counter. He barely managed to save himself from hitting his head on the cupboard with his other hand before he tipped all the way back and fell down towards the floor covered in glass shards.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * I checked several dictionaries and this was the word I think was the best, but if not just let me know which one should be instead :)


	2. Chapter 2

Jason yawned widely as he exited his bathroom with only a towel tied around his hips. He just finished showering after a long night of dealing with the scum, that thought he could escape Red Hood by coming to Blüdhaven and longed to catch a few hours of sleep. The bed in his safe house looked invitingly enough, that he foregone clothes and just slipped under the covers. He barely managed to settle comfortably, when his phone vibrated signaling incoming message. He groaned, but reached for his phone and stared for a minute at the text. Then he sighed, tossing his phone to the side and covered his eyes with his arm.

Dick’s request for help wasn’t really urgent, otherwise he would have called. On the other hand it wouldn’t be very nice to leave the man hanging, especially since today was Dick’s birthday. There was also that slight possibility of him trying to trap Jason into coming to the party at the manor, so the earlier he’ll go, the more time he’ll get for escape. Besides he did come to Blüdhaven to see Dick.

For the last few months they all barely saw Dick. All of them had busy day and night lives, that left them little time to socialize, lately more so than usual. The few times Nightwing’s duty led Dick to Gotham he had been a little distant, tired. The ever present cheerfulness, bounce in his step and ridiculous acrobatics seemed forced and Dick didn’t even try to get them to spend time with him. No hugs, no overboard display of affection. Just beat up the thug, say hi and go back to patrol. The last time Jason saw him, he didn’t even bother to pretend to be his usual cheerful idiotic self. Something was off. Jason knew other Bats noticed it too, but nobody did anything. It wasn’t like Dick was in trouble. It wasn’t that. It was just…

Jason would die before he would admit that out loud, but he missed the hugs and random brotherly bonding times. And if _he_ missed that, then surely Dick must have been dying without all that attention. This fact led Jason to an uncomfortable realization. They all were waiting for Dick to come to them. Because it was always Dick, who initiated things. They bitched and moaned, when their eldest brother came up with new ideas to spend time together, but did they do something in return? Jason tried to think of a single instance, when someone else initiated even just a simple hug and came up empty. Just Dick. Always Dick and him meeting a resistance. Years after years of this same circle. Jason would gave up long time ago in Dick’s place. A sudden guilt settled in Jason’s gut. Dick didn’t gave up on them, right? He knew their complaining was just for show. That they enjoyed their time together. That they loved him. Right?

Jason didn’t know what stopped other Bats from going to Dick. They got too used to Dick making the first move? The fact that Blüdhaven was Nightwing’s city? They were allowed to visit their brother, dammit! And it wasn’t like Dick would throw them out like Batman likes to do. Though it could be another story if the Bat himself were to show up.

So yeah, Jason came to Blüdhaven to see Dick, the thug giving him a perfect opportunity, give his older brother a hug and maybe throw ‘I love you’ in the mix. Perfect birthday present. He just wanted to get some sleep first.

With a sigh Jason climbed out of the warm bed and threw his Red Hood outfit back on. Better be safe than sorry, even if he would need to travel in broad daylight. He performed the final check and left his safe house through the window. He looked around, searching for the curious eyes and when he didn’t found anything suspicious he headed towards Dick’s apartment.

Jason was even more careful when he slipped into Dick’s home. It wouldn’t do for someone to see Red Hood, the criminal, breaking into a cop’s apartment trough the window.

He landed silently on his feet and surveyed the area. Nothing really seemed out of place, but he still moved carefully forward. When he heard the glass breaking, he made his way quickly but quietly to the kitchen. Jason halted at the entrance at the sight of a small child standing on the messy counter and rummaging in the cupboard. Oh no. No way in hell. He was not going to be playing a babysitter. Nu-huh. Dick was better suited for that anyway. Speaking of which, where was Dick anyway?

Before he could turn back to search the rest of the apartment, the child slipped on the counter. Jason immediately dived to catch the kid and save him from injuring himself on the broken glass.

Familiar wide, blue eyes peered at him from under the mop of messy black hair. The panicked expression on child’s face quickly melted into delight.

“Jay!” the kid exclaimed happily in a high pitched voice.

Jason froze, staring at the small body in his arms. No way. No. Fucking. Way.

“Dick?”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know how I did it, all of these three chapters and next two (three?) were supposed to be one chapter.  
> Extra longer today :)
> 
> Thank you all for wonderful comments!
> 
>  **DISCLAIMER:** _I don't own Batman/Nightwing/Red Hood and it's characters._

Dick knew he really should focus on his freaking out little brother, but he didn’t even know how cold he was until Jason caught him. Jay radiated warmth so Dick threw his arms around his neck, wrapped his legs around his waist and snuggled into Jason’s chest despite the hard body armor, his body shuddering at the change in temperature. That seemed to wake Red Hood from his stupor.

“Jesus Christ. Okay,” Jason said to no one in particular, simultaneously regretting and being glad he decided to come when he did. “Okay.”

He gathered Dick closer, sliding one hand under his legs to support him and tugging the lapels of his jacket as far as they would go with the other in an attempt to provide more warmth for him. And then he froze again momentary as he realized Dick didn’t have any clothes on him besides the shirt, so Jason’s arm was currently touching his naked butt. Jesus, no wonder the kid was one tiny icicle. Jason pulled the shirt Dick was wearing down over his arm to cover as much exposed skin as possible.

“What were you doing?” Jason asked, eying the mess Dick made.

“I’m hungry,” Dick complained.

Jason closed his eyes and counted to ten in an attempt to calm himself down, which didn’t do much, because he was still freaking out at finding his older brother turned into child. If Dick managed to almost kill himself just getting a meal, Jason didn’t want to think what he could do to himself doing other things.

“Alright,” he finally said and started toward the bathroom. “Let’s get you cleaned up first.”

Dick nodded, clinging tightly.

“Do you know who I am?” Jason checked. Dick did send him the message and apparently recognized him, but it won’t hurt to know what he remembered.

“Red Hood. Jason Todd,” the kid promptly replied.

“Batman?” Jason continued as he closed the door to the bathroom behind them to let the room warm up quicker.

“Bruce,” Dick answered and made a protesting sound as Red Hood moved him to his left side so he was resting against his hip securely to free his arm.

“Tim?” Jason leaned down over the bathtub and turned on the tap with hot water.

“Red Robin,” Dick sighed. “I’m still me, Jason. I remember everything. I’m just… smaller.”

“More like tiny,” Jason smirked, checking the temperature of the water.

“Hey!” Dick protested indignantly.

Jason chuckled and satisfied with the temperature put the plug in the drain to let the bathtub fill with warm water.

“Do you know what happened to you?” Red Hood asked while they waited.

Dick looked away and shrugged. Jason narrowed his eyes. Even if he didn’t know everything, Dick definitely knew something.

“Someone attacked you?” he prodded. Just a touch too aggressively.

“No,” Dick protested, looking back at him. “Nobody attacked me. Nobody cursed me or the likes.” The blue eyes practically begged Red Hood to stop asking questions, “It’s nothing bad. I promise.”

“Okay,” Jason let it drop for now. “Here,” he shifted the boy so he could grab him under his arms and lowered him down towards the bathtub. “Is the water okay?”

Dick stretched one of his legs to touch the water. It was pleasantly warm.

“Yeah,” he replied. “It’s great.”

“Good,” Jason lowered him all the way down, but didn’t let him go. What if in the moment Jason moved away he’ll slip and crack his head open on the edge of the bathtub? “Sit down, would you?”

Dick rolled his eyes at his paranoia, but obediently sat down in the shallow water. It was barely an inch high.

Red Hood turned off the tap and grabbed a soap. Then he hesitated.

He was still slightly torn between running away and hovering protectively over tiny version of his older brother. While running away would fix all Jason’s problems, he would be leaving a defenseless and helpless Dick on his own. And that was the complete opposite of what Jason came to Blüdhaven for. Treating Dick like a child wasn’t really an option either. Dick apparently was still an adult and despite him being accepting of Jason’s attention so far, there had to be a line somewhere. Giving Dick a bath definitely was one, right?

He handed Dick the soap.

“Clean up,” he ordered, moving to the door. “I’m going to grab you a new shirt. Don’t drown yourself while I’m gone.”

“I’m not a child!” Dick scoffed after him.

“You are now!” Jason yelled back.

Red Hood went to the bedroom, shucking off his jacket, armor and weapons. He laid them neatly near the bed, where they were mostly out of sight and opened the closet. He eyed critically the selection of clothes and grabbed the first shirt that got his attention and wasn’t ripped. After a quick consideration he took the three destroyed shirts and a blanket too. He headed to the kitchen and quickly cleaned the mess, using already destined for trash shirts as rags. With cleaning done he went back to the bathroom. Those few minutes were enough for Dick to wash himself and he didn’t want to leave him alone any longer. What if he really did drown? It was awfully quiet.

Jason opened the door and stared for a second, because yeah, Dick really wanted to off himself today. The kid was totally naked, the discarded shirt floating slightly in the water, standing on the edge of bathtub and without much luck trying to tug free a towel off the rack near the bathtub. As nice of a view it would be if Dick was an adult, now it was just plain weird, so Jason moved forward and had the kid bundled in the towel in two seconds flat. Startled eyes peered up at him from between folds of the towel as he placed Dick on the closed toilet and started rubbing the material to dry him off. Jason glared at him. If Dick really wanted to behave like a child, then Jason will treat him like a child.

“You do something stupid like that, you deal with consequences,” he stated.

Dick opened his mouth to protest, but thought better of it and just sighed.

“Sorry. It’s just... You didn’t come back and the water got cold,” he explained.

“You could call me,” Red Hood pointed out.

“You were busy,” Dick mumbled out.

Jason stopped. Dick knew he could ask for help anytime, right? When they needed him, Dick always dropped everything to help them. Surely Dick knew they would do the same for him, right? Nightwing rarely, if ever, called for help and Jason started to think it had more to it than just Dick being that damn good.

“I’m never too busy to help you, Dickie-Bird,” Jason assured, taking hold of kid’s shoulders and looking into his eyes, which widened slightly in wonder at his words. Yep, Jason was definitely glad he came right after receiving that text. He will need to have a nice, little chat with Bat Brats about how they were treating their eldest brother. This couldn’t go on. “Got it?” he checked, shaking the boy slightly to get his point across.

“Got it,” Dick repeated affirmatively with a small smile.

Red Hood finished drying him off and handed him the shirt. He left him to get dressed while he busied himself with cleaning the bathtub and hanging the wet shirt and towel to dry. Then he wrapped the kid in a blanket and carried him to the couch.

“So,” Jason looked around for something to do. “What now?”

“Food,” Dick replied just as his stomach growled loudly in demand of nourishment. Jason smirked. Dick glared. “I need clothes. And a ride to the manor.” It was Dick’s turn to smirk and Jason’s to glare.

Then Dick did something Jason wasn’t prepared for in the slightest. He used his most deadly weapon. The puppy dog eyes. If they were irresistible on the adult, they were hundreds of times more powerful on the child. This little pout was just too fucking adorable. The big, bad Red Hood immediately melted into a puddle of goo from the cuteness.

“Please?”

“Alright!” Jason surrendered. “Jesus. Goddammit! Just stop!”

“You’ll stay at the party?” Dick checked.

“Yes, I’ll stay,” Red Hood growled. “Now, stop it already.”

Dick smiled at him beatifically, the little shit.

Jason stomped to the kitchen, cursing at him under his breath. He came back after a minute with a bowl of cereal.

“You don’t have anything else to eat,” he pointed out.

“I cleaned everything out,” Dick reached for the bowl Jason handed him. “Alfred always gives me tons of food when I’m leaving the manor.”

“Careful,” Jason smirked. “I might come just to steal some of the goodies off of you.”

“You’re always welcome, Jay,” Dick replied.

And fuck. The sudden guilt was like a punch to the gut. Shit. They had so much to fix.

“Anything particular you want to wear?” Jason quickly changed the subject.

“Not really,” Dick shrugged. “Just something that fits better.”

“Alright then. Do you need something before I go?”

Dick shook his head.

“Okay,” Jason sighed, running one hand through his hair. “I’ll be back soon. I’ll lock the door. Try not to kill yourself, please.”

Dick nodded without a word.

Jason headed to the front door. His Red Hood outfit could easily pass as civilian clothes without his gear but he still grabbed Dick’s jacket from the hanger. It was a bit tight, but if he didn’t try to zip it, it looked alright on him. With a quick final goodbye Jason finally made his escape.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, this chapter is very short, sorry.

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Dick berated himself after Jason left. He worked hard to tone down his displays of affection towards his little brothers since they seemed to hate it so much. Nobody couldn’t tell that Dick couldn’t take the hint. Granted, it took him years and years to finally give up, but he was a hopeful being and he couldn’t just leave it alone sooner. And now he probably destroyed all the progress he managed to get by his neediness.

It was clear that Jason wanted to run away from this situation. Dick didn’t blame him. It wasn’t an everyday thing to find your older brother turned into a child, even in their line of work. Dick counted himself lucky Jason didn’t make his escape immediately after he threw himself at him seeking warmth. Then he practically forced his little brother to attend the party, knowing full well he hated being in the manor for longer periods of time. And then he showed his needy side when he invited Jason over whenever he wanted. Dick wouldn’t be surprised if Jason decided to bail on him after all of that. But no, Jason wouldn’t do that. He will be back and he will take Dick to the manor out of his sense of duty and then he will definitely bail on him.

Dick sighed into his empty bowl. He couldn’t do anything about that now. To take his mind off the matter he turned the TV back on. He found fairly interesting movie, but after a while he started feeling anxious. He was fine before Jason came. But now he had a taste of having another human being around. His apartment suddenly seemed more intimidating. Everything was bigger and seemed to loom over him threateningly. It also got much more emptier, cold and lonely. He turned the volume of the TV up. It helped a bit, for a few minutes. Dick curled under the blanket, wedging himself into a corner of the couch. How long has it been since Jason left? However long it was, it was too long. He wanted Jason now. Like, right now. But there was a possibility he wasn’t coming back.

Dick startled himself with the first sob. Tears rolled down his face. Again with the neediness, he thought angry and ashamed with himself. This just made him cry harder. He covered himself completely with the blanket and tried not to think about anything as he sobbed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... I have two scenes for the next chapter that I like and I don't know which one to choose. Since I like interacting with readers, I'll leave the choice to you :)  
> Should Jason take Dick shopping for clothes? You can vote [here](http://www.poll-maker.com/poll836238xB60c0774-33). Poll will be open for the next 44 hours or so. The option with the most votes will win.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The pool said, that Jason should take Dick shopping (18 to 8), so here you go :) Sorry for the wait, but my plans for the weekend got crashed and I just couldn't finish this chapter on time.

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Jason berated himself. He knew he shouldn’t just leave like that, but God, he needed a moment of respite to come to terms with the situation and the way out was just too good to not to take it. He lit a cigarette to calm down. It helped some, and he was able to breathe easier.

Okay then, he needed to find some clothes for Dick. Jason looked around in search of appropriate shop. There was none. How come there was no shop for kids around when you needed one, but other times it was all you could see? With an aggravated sigh Jason pulled out his phone and googled a location of one. Soon he made his way to the nearest one. Upon entering it he became overwhelmed by the sheer amount of items dedicated for children of various ages. He took a few hesitating steps forward, not entirely sure where to begin to find what he needed.

He didn’t need to worry though. Not a minute later he was accosted by a young, brunette attendant.

“Hi there!” she smiled at him. “Can I help you?”

“Yeah, actually,” Jason smiled back, relieved. “I need clothes for my… nephew.”

“Alright,” the girl nodded. “Do you have any measurements? How old is he?”

“He’s about three feet tall,” Jason frowned. “Maybe an inch or two taller. He’s five as of today.”

“Oh,” the attendant grinned. “Birthday present?”

“No, ah,” Jason thought about an excuse. “His father dropped him off at mine to have a day off to organize the party. I was supposed to take my nephew back home later, but he got all dirty while we were making breakfast and I don’t have any clothes to change him into. My brother would kill me if I would bring his son to a party in dirty clothes, so I asked a neighbor to watch him and here I am.”

“Yeah,” the girl sighed understandingly. “Kids can get messy. You can take a look a this section,” she gestured at the colorful corner of the shop filled with various clothes. “If you need help just call me.”

“Thanks,” Jason nodded and headed to where he was pointed.

After fifteen minutes Jason decided it was pointless. There were just too many shirts and pants Dick might like for him to choose the right ones. Not to mention shoes. Jason didn’t want to buy any until he was sure they were the right size. He’ll just take a plain set of clothes and bring Dick here for shopping. They didn’t know for how long Dick was going to be a child and Jason was pretty sure there was no clothes his size at the manor. It would save Alfred a trip to the store. And make Dick happy to have an option to choose what he would get to wear. Besides it was his birthday after all.

Jason took a bundle of clothes to the cash register and paid for it. Then he hurried back to apartment. He was gone for almost an hour and he dreaded to think what Dick had gotten himself into in all of this time.

“Dick? I’m back,” Jason called as he let himself in.

Nothing. Only TV playing quite loudly.

“Dick?” Jason said louder, a little concerned. Then he heard it. A quiet sniffles and hiccups, almost inaudible over the noise the TV was making. Red Hood immediately dropped the bag to the floor and crossed to the living room, scanning the area for danger. Finding none he turned the TV off and crouched before the bundle under the blanket.

“Dick?” he said softly, carefully uncovering the dark haired head. “What’s wrong?”

The crying just got louder and more intense and Jason panicked for a second before Dick practically threw himself at him, latching onto his neck.

“Don’t leave,” Dick sobbed out.

Jason clenched his eyes shut as the wave of guilt hit him.

“Hey, hey, it’s alright now,” Jason gathered the crying mess into his arms, blanket and all, and stood, rocking back and forth and rubbing the heaving back in an attempt to soothe his crying brother. “I’m here and I won’t leave you alone again.”

It took some time for Dick to calm down. When his sobs died down to an occasional sniffle, Dick pushed away from him.

“So-sorry,” he said wiping at his red from crying, embarrassment and shame face.

“Hey no, Dickie-Bird, you have nothing to apologize for,” Jason reassured. “I am sorry. I shouldn’t left you alone like that.”

“You had to, tough,” Dick shrugged. Too casually for Jason not to know he was still struggling.

“It doesn’t make it right,” Jason countered. “I’m sorry,” he leaned forward and smacked a kiss on Dick’s forehead. Dick blinked at him in astonishment, but he ignored that, “I got you something to wear. Nothing fancy, just something to tie you over until you choose whatever you want when we go shopping in a minute. I tell you, kids have all the cool stuff. It’s not fair.”

“Uhuh,” Dick agreed as Jason carried him to where he dropped the bag.

Jason bend down to pick it up and then went to bathroom. He disposed Dick on the toilet again and stuck a piece of toilet paper under his nose.

“Blow,” he said.

Dick scowled up at him and snatched the paper from him. Jason chuckled, ruffling his hair. While Dick was blowing his nose, he ran a towel under warm water and then gently wiped Dick’s face clean. Dick grumbled at him in displeasure but allowed the handling. After that Jason started handing Dick his new clothes. Underwear, pants followed by socks, shirt and a hoodie. When Dick finally adjusted the hood how he liked he looked at Jason expectantly and wiggled his toes pointedly, raising his eyebrow when no shoes made an appearance.

“I wasn’t sure which ones would fit you,” Jason grinned ruefully, presenting next pair of socks, “so I got you another pair of those. Extra warm.”

Dick rolled his eyes.

“And how I’m supposed to get to the store?” he asked, putting the socks over those he already was wearing.

“I’ll carry you,” Red Hood shrugged.

“All the way?” Dick gaped incredulously.

“You barely weigh anything,” Jason teased. “Besides it’s not that far once you know the way.”

“If you’re sure,” the kid allowed uncertainly.

“I am,” Jason stated firmly. He folded the blanket and put it in the bag. “In case you get cold on the way,” he explained at the questioning look. “And you will tell me if you get cold, got it?” Dick nodded. Jason smiled and opened his arms, “C’mon then.”

Dick eyed the barely foot separating them and adjusted his posture slightly. His socks had anti-slipping surface on the soles, so he leaped at Red Hood without any problems. Jason grinned as he caught him, helping him to get comfortable on his back in piggyback position.

“All set?” Jason checked.

“Yes,” Dick replied.

So they went. Jason noticed, that Dick was careful to not get closer than necessary while holding onto him. And when he jostled the kid once and again for fun, he just grumbled his disapproval, though Red Hood knew he enjoyed it. Even drawing Dick into a conversation was a chore. Jason was saddened by how reserved and listless Dick was being. The knowledge that they were the cause of this just made Red Hood grit his teeth in helpless anger. If some thugs were the cause of Dick’s behavior, he would just beat the shit out of them or kill them. But the Batfamily was responsible for this and Jason couldn’t in clear conscience take it out on them, not when he was also source of the problem.

“You weren’t kidding,” Dick whispered to him as they arrived at the store and Jason walked towards section he was before with a basket. He let go and started slipping down with the intention to look around.

“Whoa!” Jason caught the kid and maneuvered him so he was in front of him. “Shoes first.”

Dick sighed pursuing his lips, but nodded.

Twenty minutes later Jason was dutifully carrying Dick around, so he could get a closer look at the items he wanted. He had to admit, that little Nightwing was fast. They already had three pairs of shoes and pants and now Dick was browsing the collection of superhero themed shirts. Not that Jason was telling Dick what to wear, but he couldn’t help to add a shirt with Superman’s logo to the pile. Dick threw him a ‘I know what you did there’ look at that, but was far from protesting. Jason looked away as Dick reached Batman’s section on the rack and sighed, searching around for something he could persuade Dick to get to irritate Bruce some more. He felt Dick still suddenly.

“Jay,” the kid said excitedly. “I want this one!”

Jason turned back to see what version of Batman’s symbol warranted this reaction and his jaw dropped. Because among the black and yellow bats there was a red one. A red one belonging to Red Hood.

“Can I have that one?” Dick asked, suddenly uncertain.

“Whatever you want,” Jason repeated his little mantra, because apparently Dick couldn’t get through his thick skull, that Jason would buy out the entire store just to make him happy.

“Black one, blue one and white one?” Dick requested.

Jason obediently selected the appointed shirts in the right size, all three with red bat logo. He still couldn’t believe it.

Dick choose two more shirts, Nightwing and Robin themed, before he decided to move onto hoodies. He didn’t have anything Batman themed so far. Jason frowned at this. Dick didn’t want it or was he avoiding anything Batman related because of the Red Hood?

“Dick,” he started, “if you want something with-”

“That one,” the kid pointed at the red hoodie with zipper and large Batman logo across the chest.

Yep, Jason didn’t need to worry. He helped Dick to try it on and insisted he pick one more just in case. Next they moved on to jackets. Jason wouldn’t budge until Dick got one, the little shit insisting he would be warm enough in his hoodies. Then Red Hood let Dick go to select some underwear, while he picked more socks. Dick didn’t care about the pattern, so Jason took some plain ones with colors matching the pile of clothes.

Jason was mentally checking the shopping list when Dick appeared next to him lugging a pack of black boxers and white set of pajamas. A white pajamas with printed red and blue pattern all over it. Jason squinted, trying to see the shapes.

“Look what I found!” Dick grinned, presenting him the set of sleepwear. Yep, Jason could see clearly now. The blue was Nightwing symbol, the red was Red Hood’s.

“The hell?” Jason muttered, stunned.

“I’m not putting it back,” Dick clutched the pajamas defensively.

“Of course not,” Jason agreed picking him up. He took the pack of boxers from him and tossed it in the basket. He didn’t try to touch the pajamas. It was the first item Dick got really possessive of.

“I think that’s it,” he announced. “Do you have everything you wanted?”

Dick shook his head.

“There’s one more thing we need to get,” he stated.

“Oh?” Jason was intrigued. He was convinced he thought of everything. Even stopping on the way to get something to eat for later.

“A car seat,” Dick revealed.

“A car seat,” Jason echoed. Then frowned. “Aren’t you too old for a car seat?”

“It’s a requirement for all children under the age of twelve,” Dick explained.

“How do you know this?”

The kid gave him a look.

“I’m a cop.”

“Riiight,” Jason sighed, but went to get the damn car seat.

When they finally got back to the apartment Jason was exhausted. He didn’t know how actual parents managed. He had to carry tons of bags, a car seat and keep a careful eye on Dick, skipping next to him the entire way. Granted, Dick was an adult and he wouldn’t just run away stupidly, but still Jason was stressing out over protectively.

Now at least, away from the prying eyes, Dick kicked out his shoes and was helpfully dragging bags with his clothes to the bedroom.

“You want something to eat?” Jason asked him.

“Maybe later,” the kid replied.

“Okay,” Red Hood carried food to the kitchen and put it away while he ate a banana. Chores done, he turned to leave the room and find the kid, but he was already there.

Dick was watching him clad in his new pajamas, leaning against the jamb and yawning widely.

“Tired?” Jason smiled.

Dick nodded sleepily.

“Let’s go take a nap,” Red Hood suggested. “We have a few hours before we need to get going.”

“’kay,” Dick mumbled and shuffled back to the bedroom.

Jason followed him. He undressed to his shirt and shorts, while Dick settled under the covers on the bed. Jason laid down too and frowned. Dick was lying on the other side of the bed facing away from him. That just wouldn’t do.

“Come here,” Jason reached forward and pulled the kid to him. Dick squeaked in surprise.

Red Hood shifted onto his back and tucked Dick into his side, putting his arm around him to keep him in place. It took heartbreaking long for Dick to completely relax against him. To not tense every few minutes expecting to be pushed away. Jason pulled him in tighter, regretting times he rejected any kind of affection from his older brother.

“I know I don’t show it,” he whispered barely audible into mop of black hair when he was fairly sure Dick was almost asleep already, “but I missed you. I love your hyperactive, affectionate, clingy self. Don’t ever change.”

Dick smiled at Jason’s words, warmth filling him all over. So that’s what it felt like, he realized. He was too comfortable and tired, though, to have a conversation. He will tell Jay after he’ll wake up.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay then. This is the chapter all of you have been waiting for ;) Plot explanation!  
> This fic was inspired by Tigrislupa's fic _Father Christmas_ (it's here on AO3 or FanFiction.Net, if you wish to read, it's great!) and the wish Dick made in there.
> 
> Enjoy.

This was new. Jason thought as he looked around at the endless white surrounding him. Since his resurrection it was usually darkness of the coffin or green of the Lazarus Pit that dominated his dreams. Definitely not warm, comforting light. And he definitely didn’t know he was dreaming.

“You are asleep, yes,” came the feminine voice from in front of him, “but this is not a dream.”

Jason shifted into defensive stance and watched warily as from the light emerged a beautiful woman. She had a long dark hair, green eyes and was clad in a long, white dress. Jason squinted at the barely visible outline of something behind her. Fucking hell, did she have wings?!

“Who are you?” Red Hood demanded.

“My name is Alaila,” the woman replied. “And I am one of the last Fairies, that took refuge in your world.”

Jason raised his eyebrows incredulously.

“Seriously?” he muttered.

“Yes,” Alaila smiled warmly at him. “Our kind lived among yours for a few generations now. Though only a few chosen know we exist.”

“I’m flattered,” Jason said sarcastically. “What do you want?”

Alaila lost her smile and looked pensive.

“I might have made a mistake,” she confessed.

Jason bristled. Why she did come to him and then changed her mind about it? He had better things to do than be a plaything for the fucking Fairy.

“You misunderstood me,” she placated quickly. “I...” she sighed. “Please, listen.”

“Okay,” Jason crossed his arms over his chest. “Go on.”

“I was in trouble. Real trouble. Your brother helped me and then he made sure I got home safely. I wanted to thank him somehow, so I decided to fulfill his wish.”

“You turned him into a child?” Jason demanded as he realized the reason of his older brother being barely three feet tall. Then frowned, “Wait. He wanted to be a child?!”

“No! No,” Alaila shook her head. “He wanted,” she hesitated. “He was so sad and lonely, and he only wanted hugs from his family.”

Jason’s fists clenched at the reminder of his, _their_ , failure.

“So you turned him into a child?” he repeated.

“It’s natural to hug children,” the Fairy woman looked sheepish. “I thought it would help speed up the process. He won’t turn back until requirements are fulfilled. The hugs need to be sincere and freely given. They can’t be manipulated in any way or initiated by him. He can only talk about it with people who accomplished that, otherwise he will remain a child.”

“What?” Jason growled.

Alaila wrangled her hands nervously.

“Those are the terms of that spell. He accepted them, when I explained this to him.”

Jason swore under his breath.

“But I might have made a mistake,” the Fairy said. “At that time I didn’t realize the kind of life you lead or the kind of family you have. He might be in more danger than usual, because I made him a child. He will need your protection. I implore you to help him.”

Jason glared. Of course he will help Dick. There was no question about that. But…

“Why me?”

“You care about him the most,” she answered and smiled sadly. “And he will need that soon more than ever.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Jason wanted to know, shuddering with dread. Will something bad happen? Will someone get hurt? Will someone die? What? What?

“You know everything you need,” Alaila stated as everything started to blur and dim around him. “Good luck.”

“Good luck my ass,” Jason muttered angrily as he blinked his eyes open to the ceiling of Dick’s bedroom. He laid there for a minute, imagining all the gruesome scenarios before he decided it was pointless. What was supposed to happen will happen and he only could try to be there and prevent it when the time comes. Or pick up the pieces. He rubbed at his eyes tiredly and sighed.

He looked at the sleeping child sprawled across his chest. He snorted, though his heart went out to the man. Fucking hell, hugs from the family.

“Only you could wish for something like that,” Jason muttered, carding his fingers through black hair.

Hell, they will need all the luck in the world. There was a higher chance to keep all the supervillains in Arkham for a whole year than Bruce hugging Dick on his own volition. Damian might be a problem too. But hey! Maybe there was hope after all. Jason would count to be the hardest one of them all and look, he was first to fulfill the requirements. Or he just turned into a big softie. He tried not to shudder at the thought and reached for his phone. He had about half an hour before they needed to get up. He better get some more sleep while he could.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I almost didn't make it today, because I got my hands on Batman: Arkham Knight :>

It was a good thing he didn't really fell asleep again, only dozed lightly half aware of his surroundings, as he was thrown suddenly into full consciousness by Dick practically jumping on him. Jason grunted, hands going to kid's sides to steady him as opposed to flipping him off and killing him.

“Wake up, Jay,” the little shit sing-songed, very much aware that Red Hood wasn't really sleeping.

Was Jason being tested? Most likely, but he couldn't blame Dick for that. He couldn't fix years of rejection of affection just by one hug. No matter how much he and Dick wished that was the case. Besides it was good to find and establish some boundaries right away. But first a little revenge wouldn't hurt.

“Well, aren't you chipper all of sudden?” Jason drawled lazily before he tightened his hold on the child and flipped them over, trapping Dick underneath him, careful not to crush him.

Dick yelled in surprise at the sudden move, wide stunned pools of blue looking up at Jason warily. Jason smirked back and attacked.

Dick let out a high pitched squeal and started trashing, trying to get away from Jason’s merciless fingers poking and tickling at his sides.

“Jay… st… stop,” Dick managed to plead between peals of laughter his little brother was forcing out of him, pushing at Jason’s chest uselessly.

“Hmmm,” Jason hummed, grinning, “I don’t think I will.”

“Pleaaase,” Dick begged.

Jason let him crawl away a moment later, Dick’s breathless laughter dying down to occasional chuckle. Pleased with himself, he watched propped up on his elbow as Dick tried to get his breathing under control.

As soon as Dick was out of Jason’s reach, he was launching himself back at Jason with barely a break. Letting out a battle cry, he barreled into surprised Red Hood, rolling him onto his back and sitting on his chest triumphantly. He immediately put his fingers to work, while he still had the advantage. Jason barked a laugh and went to retaliate. Dick ducked, rolling to the side, laughing merrily at Jason’s unsuccessful attempts to catch him and coming back at Red Hood with his own attacks.

If Jason really wanted, he wouldn’t have any problems with caging the little bird again. As it was, he was rather enjoying Dick in his natural state of being. Happy, energized and doing acrobatics. Dick used his skills to full advantage. He was fast and twisted and bend at impossible angles to dodge Jason’s attacks. If Jason was any less trained, he wouldn’t stand a chance.

By the time they declared a truce the bed and them both were a mess. Jason flopped down onto his back with a groan, covering his eyes with his arm for a moment. Who would have thought, that playing with a child was as much tiring as a good workout. That, or he was just getting old, he decided as Dick crawled to him with a wide grin and settled on his chest. The kid’s hair were plastered to his forehead with sweat, his face was red from exertion, but obviously he was still full of energy.

Jason smiled when it became apparent that Dick was content to just lay down for a moment instead declaring sudden tickle war again. He carded his fingers through the sweaty black hair, down kid’s neck and back, then back up, settling to idly rubbing Dick’s back.

“Did you turn the alarm off?” Jason asked, wondering if they were late for the party. Assuming they could be late, since there was no party without the birthday boy.

“I woke you up early,” Dick replied.

Jason hummed, closing his eyes, warm and comfortable. Shit, he needed to move or he will fall asleep.

“Hey, Jay?” Dick prompted after a minute of silence.

“Mhmm?” Jason forced his one eye open to peer at Dick, who became very interested in Jason’s shirt. The kid was suddenly subdued and Red Hood wracked his brain for the cause.

“You can ask me now,” the child said quietly, “about what happened.”

Oh, that. For Dick to talk about it was him admitting his need for affection from family who was allergic to those things.

“I know,” Red Hood answered, never stopping his soothing motion up and down Dick’s back.

The expectant silence stretched. Finally Dick looked up at him with a frown.

“You aren’t going to?”

Jason sighed.

“I know what happened, Dick,” he clarified.

“Oh,” Dick’s jaw dropped slightly in shock. “How?”

“The Fairy lady and I had a little chat,” Jason shrugged. The alarm on the phone went off and he reached for his cell to turn it off. “C’mon, up you get. We have to shower and put that damn car seat into the car.”

Jason went to shower first, then filled the bathtub with warm water for Dick and placed a towel within his easy reach. Then he invited himself to Dick’s closet in search of something to wear, promising himself to bring some of his own clothes to stash for emergencies. He eyed the pile of Red Hood’s gear beside the bed and decided it would be better to take it with him. He pulled a bag from the bottom of the closet and packed it. Then he added everything he thought they would need for the trip.

After they were ready and Jason wrestled the car seat into required position they made their way to Gotham. The drive was uneventful. Only after they were nearing the manor Jason started to be nervous. And by the look of it, Dick too.

“You don’t have to stay, if you don’t want to,” Dick, the ever self sacrificing idiot, smiled reassuringly at him from the back.

Jason just grunted, steeling his resolve as he parked the car in front of the entrance. He exited the car and opened door for Dick, patiently waiting for him to free himself from the seat.

“I swear,” Dick muttered angrily. “They are so not worth the hassle.”

Jason snorted and picked him up, which brightened his mood a little. Jason shut the door and locked the car, then he made his way to the entrance. He barely made to the front door, when Dick leaned forward in his arms to reach the doorbell. Jason shook his head in amusement and adjusted his hold on the kid when he was done.

Then the door opened to the familiar face of the old Wayne family butler.

“Hey Alfie,” Jason greeted.

“Master Jason,” Alfred smiled warmly. “It’s good to see you.” He looked at Dick, apparently not a bit fazed, that Jason appeared at Wayne manor’s doorstep with a child. “And who that may be?”

“Hi, Al,” Dick waved slightly.

Alfred’s eyebrows shoot up in recognition.

“Oh my,” the butler exclaimed, “Master Dick!”

“I know, right?” Jason commented, walking in. “Where’s everyone?”

“They’re waiting in main dining room,” Alfred answered, still in awe. “What happened?”

“Long story,” Jason hedged, not liking the way Dick was eying banister and chandelier. Thank God he made a rule earlier for Dick to not do any of his acrobatics unless someone was watching him. Dick wasn’t overly pleased at that, but he was reasonable. “The important fact is that he is perfectly fine, just child sized.”

“I see,” Alfred nodded. “Well, you shouldn’t keep the others waiting, then.”

“Right,” Jason swallowed. “Here goes...”

They went to the appointed room. Jason stopped before the door and put his hand on the doorknob.

“Ready?” he asked quietly.

Dick squeezed at his neck tighter and nodded. Jason took a deep breath and opened the door.

A loud, cheery “Surprise!” sounded, followed by stunned silence.

“Uh,” Dick smiled sheepishly, pressing closer to Jason. “Surprise back?”


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry! I don't know what went wrong :/ I didn't even notice that the chapter wasn't posted until Emerald1 told me (thank you again!). If next chapters won't make an appearance ater the weekend, feel free to pester me so this won't happen again.

“Jason,” Bruce greeted, unsurprisingly being the first one to get over his shock, and then got straight to the matter at hand, “Is he yours?”

There was so many things wrong with that question. First. Wow, rude. Dick was like _right_ there. Second. Oh Hell, no! Jason would have to be around sixteen or seventeen to have a child this age. And he was hardly alive then. Third. Jason wanted Dick to be his, but definitely not in a father-son relationship. And, ew, he should stop thinking about that while Dick was a child. It was just too weird. Fourth. How Bruce didn’t recognize his own Golden Boy? And to think the man was supposed to be the World’s Greatest Detective.

“No,” Red Hood replied, rolling his eyes. “He’s yours.”

It was a testament of how far they got since his return from the death, that they believed him instantly.

Bruce looked like someone hit him with a brick. The stunned looks of the rest of the family turned to awed, jumping between the child and billionaire. And all of them were supposed to be trained by the said World’s Greatest Detective. Idiots.

“Dick is going to love this,” Barbara commented quietly to Cassandra and Stephanie, who nodded in agreement. Jason could practically see them cooing at the kid in their minds. Only training prevented them from acting on their desire for the time being. Or the waves of protectiveness Red Hood was projecting all over the place.

Tim got a calculating look on his face, staring at the child intensely. At least one of them is using brain. Hurray.

“No!” Damian protested. Was that a touch of panic Jason detected? “It’s not possible!” He turned to Bruce furiously, “Father! I demand an explanation!”

Bruce was still too stunned to do anything besides staring at the child.

Tim apparently realized something, because he smiled softly and made his way to Dick and Jason, raising his hands in the air non threateningly. He stopped a few feet before them as if there was an invisible line and cocked his head a bit, looking Jason in the eyes.

“May I?” he asked.

Jesus, he’s not that protective, is he? Dick got uncomfortable with the stares he was getting and attempted to mold himself into Jason. Red Hood unconsciously shifted to shield him with his shoulder in response. Okay, maybe he got a little protective. Just a bit. Jason forced himself to relax his defensive stance and nodded. It wasn’t like anyone here would hurt the kid. Not anymore than they already did, that is.

Tim’s smile grew as he moved forward, not stopping until he was pressed into Jason’s side opposite to the kid’s, worming his way under his arm into a half hug. Huh, Red Hood wasn’t the only one missing the affection it seemed.

“Hi, Jason,” Tim said with a light nuzzle to his shoulder. “It’s good to see you. I’m glad you came.”

What? Jason frowned down at him. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Dick pout at being ignored and he definitely didn’t miss the knowing look he exchanged with Red Robin.

Jason sighed deeply, most of the tension and overwhelming urge to flee leaving him with the breath he let out.

“Manipulative little bastards,” he muttered, squeezing both kids to his sides.

Two wide grins and breath knocked out of him at the force of the double hug was the response he got.

“Alright, alright,” Jason mock growled. “Off.”

Tim released him with a laugh and finally turned his full attention to the one he deserved it the most today.

“Hi, Dick,” Tim said loudly, so everyone could hear him. “Happy Birthday.”

Everyone’s jaw dropped. Damian paused at Bruce’s throat, where he found himself as he charged at his father with a ‘I refuse to have another useless sibling!’

“Thanks, Timmy!” Dick grinned, releasing Jason and leaning toward Red Robin.

No, no, no. Dammit! There went their chance.

Tim whisked Dick away from Jason’s arms into his and carried him away toward the rest of family.

Jason sighed and followed. They still had plenty of time and opportunities to fulfill the condition of Dick’s wish.


	9. Chapter 9

Not even five minutes later Dick had enough. And that was saying something. Oh, he was all for the affection. Barbara, Cassandra and Stephanie even fulfilled the requirements within first thirty seconds. But the girls took all of that to the new level. They gushed over him, smothering him with hugs and kisses, ignoring his polite requests to cease and desist. When Alfred announced, that dinner is ready, Dick thought he had been saved. But his relief didn’t last long. The girls surrounded him at the table, piling his plate with food cut into small pieces he didn’t ask for and talking over him, making plans on how they were going to have so much fun with him after dinner.

Dick sighed and tried once more to protest their treatment of him, but was ignored. Taking advantage of that he slid under the table and crawled to the other side. He emerged between Tim and Jason and leaned against Red Hood’s side in silent request for some kind of help. Jason glanced at him and stopped eating, shooting the girls a glare across the table. Not that it did anything good as they were still too busy to notice.

Jason stopped paying as much attention as he did before as he saw Dick positively glowing at the attention the women in their family bestowed upon him. He figured they fulfilled the conditions of the wish and thus Dick would be okay with them. Apparently he was wrong. Dick was upset. And Jason was slowly learning that an upset Dick was a more childish Dick, which led to overly emotional responses aka crying. He suspected that Dick’s small body wasn’t equipped to handle the stress of adult life and this was the only way for him to unwind. Still, it wasn’t right to make him cry.

Jason swallowed the food already in his mouth and leaned down to Dick.

“Do you want to sit here?” he asked.

Dick nodded eagerly.

Jason scooted to the side slightly, careful to not to disturb Damian. Tim had already made some room as well and was pulling up an extra chair between them. Dick climbed onto it.

That the girls noticed.

“Aww,” Stephanie pouted. “Jason, you already had him for a day, give him back.”

“Dick is not a toy,” Red Hood gritted out. “He doesn’t appreciate being babied. He’s an adult, _not_ a child. He can do stuff by himself and make his own choices. I thought it was obvious when I said he was just miniaturized.”

Barbara, Cassandra and Stephanie looked properly chastised.

“Hand me his plate,” Jason demanded.

Stephanie complied meekly. He took the plate and transferred whatever food there was onto his own. Why waste it? Jason could eat practically anything and that it was cut already was a bonus. He put the empty plate before Dick. Tim passed the kid the cutlery he took from Barbara.

“Alright?” he asked Dick.

Dick smiled and nodded.

“Thank you.”

Jason nodded back, shoot the girls one last glare and went back to eating. Tim ruffled Dick’s hair and did the same.

Red Hood really wanted to tell all went smoothly after that, but of course it didn’t.

After dinner and cake and presents they relocated to the living room for some family time. In insight Jason should call them right after he found miniaturized Dick. Then they would have time to prepare more child appropriate catering. Jason stopped both Stephanie and Damian from accidentally giving Dick cake and candies with alcohol. Stopped Cassandra from not so accidentally giving him an actual alcohol. And was too late to stop Tim from sneaking Dick a coffee cake. After that one he gave up and joined _Bruce_ sitting on the side watching them.

He sprawled on the armchair next to Bruce and closed his eyes with a sigh. He took a sip from his drink and frowned in disappointment as he wasn’t met with a soothing burn of alcohol. It couldn’t be helped, though. He needed to be able to drive home. There was no way in hell he was spending the night at the manor.

“So,” the billionaire cleared his throat awkwardly.

Jason smirked. Bruce was still freaking out at Dick being in five years old body, avoiding him like the plague without making it look like he was actually avoiding him. It was as amusing to watch as the tightening of his jaw and tick of his eyebrow whenever he got a glimpse of the Superman’s shirt Dick was wearing.

“How did this happen?” the Batman asked.

“I have no idea,” Jason lied. He didn’t even entertain the idea that he fooled the man, but Bruce didn’t press for more. Still, he was feeling charitable so he added, “It’s not something we should worry about, I promise.”

“Very well,” Bruce agreed.

The next few hours were spend in companionable silence between them in the otherwise noisy room or on some small talk when someone drifted over for a conversation. All in all it was pretty damn okay and Jason relaxed completely. He didn’t even became alerted, when Dick climbed into his lap and latched onto his neck with a whine.

“What’s wrong, Cutie Bird?” he asked lazily.

“Hurts,” Dick complained.

“Where?” Jason questioned, having a pretty good idea where this was going.

“Stomach.”

Jason chuckled.

“What did I tell you?” he teased.

“Not to eat all the sweets,” Dick answered glumly.

“And?” Red Hood raised an eyebrow, waiting.

“Not to come to you whining when I make myself sick,” the kid recited even more sulkily.

Jason chuckled again.

“Sounds about right,” he commented.

“Jaaay,” Dick whined, clutching at Jason even tighter in desperation.

“Shush, you’re okay, Dickie-Bird,” Jason soothed and moved the kid onto his side, supporting him with his arm. The other hand he put on Dick’s stomach.

“Where exactly does it hurt?” he asked.

Dick unclasped one of his own hands from around Jason’s neck just for long enough to direct his hand a little lower. Red Hood started rubbing little circles in the area and after a few minutes Dick sighed in relief and relaxed. Jason crooned softly to him and kept rubbing his belly.

Without the birthday boy to instigate majority of the mess, the others started to wind down and gather around the trio. The conversation flowed easily, with a lot of good-natured teasing and laughter. Dick drowsed through most of it, but by the time Alfred came and turned on the news about a breakout from Arkham, he was alert and mostly fine.

Jason sighed. It was time to get back to work.


	10. Chapter 10

“No,” Batman growled, glaring down at the child.

“Yes,” Dick replied stubbornly, arms crossed across his chest and glaring right back.

They all came down to the Batcave to gear up, Dick trailing behind them. Nobody thought much of it until the kid started going through the old Robin suits, searching something that would fit him. Barbara was first to notice as she wasn’t overly busy with getting ready.

“What are you doing, Dick?” she asked.

Everybody paused and looked at the child.

“Getting ready,” Dick replied, not looking up from his task. “What does it look like?”

Oh hell, no. Just no. The thought of Dick, currently so tiny, out in the middle of the mess that was Gotham’s night with most of the supervillains roaming free send chills down Jason’s spine. He got the sudden urge to wrap Dick in a bubble and stash him somewhere safe and away from this all. He knew Dick wouldn’t be happy about that, even if Jason somehow managed to accomplish that feat. Fortunately for him, he was surrounded by six idiots, who would do the job for him and let him remain in Dick’s good graces. So he stood quietly on the side and watched the show.

“Dick, you’re-” Tim quickly realized his mistake and didn’t finish whatever he was going to say. Because how could you win an argument about not letting a child go out to fight crime, when you did it on a regular basics for years with each Robin? Granted, they were older than Dick’s current body was, but Dick was still an adult with all his training and experience.

“Let him come,” Damian declared stupidly, “I will remain with him at all times and watch over him.”

Yeah, whatever points the Demon Brat gained for siding with mini Nightwing evaporated in an instant with the blatant babying.

“I’m not a child!” Dick gritted out. “And I’m coming, too.”

“Absolutely not,” Bruce cut in.

Now, that the Big Bad Bat spoke his law, everyone else figured the argument was ended and went back to gearing up. But the argument didn’t end, because they were Bruce and Dick and they were stubborn and it was Dick’s birthday and they were all going away to fight without him and Dick was worried and couldn’t be Nightwing, who often saved them in a nick of time.

While the first dynamic duo was arguing, Jason thought about how he could appease the kid. There was no question about Dick staying in tonight. It was just too dangerous for him to go. If it was a normal patrol, it would be another matter. Huh, that was a thought.

So now they had a standoff, Batman and Dick glaring at each other and neither showing signs of giving up.

“Dick,” Barbara said suddenly. “There’s Two Face, Poison Ivy, Riddler, Joker, Scarecrow, Bane and a whole bunch of other patients out there right now. It will be hard to find all of them and coordinate several teams at the same time. Why don’t you stay here and help me with that?”

Well, that was a good solution, Jason had to admit. It would keep Dick away, but he would still be in the thick of things. Everyone but Bats seemed to think so too, judging by the relief appearing on their faces. A very big mistake, letting it show.

Dick looked around at them and his expression darkened. He clenched his jaw hard and balled his fists. Oh shit. The last thing they needed was for Dick to throw a temper tantrum and then sneak out on his own.

Batman opened his mouth and Jason just knew he was going to make the situation much worse, so he scooped the kid into his arms and walked away before he could say anything.

“Jay!” Dick growled in protest, pushing away from him as much as the arms wrapped around him allowed.

“Easy,” Red Hood soothed and lowered his voice, “I have a proposition for you.”

Dick stopped struggling and frowned.

“What proposition?” he asked cautiously.

Jason looked back to check if someone was listening and satisfied they weren’t he focused his attention back on the waiting child.

“I get, that you worry. I really do. We all do. But think about the situation from our perspective. We worry about you too. If one of us were in your position you wouldn’t allow us to go too. Am I right?”

“I guess,” Dick admitted slowly.

“And you know Barbara will really need the help,” Jason pointed out.

Dick sighed in defeat.

“Yeah, I know,” he muttered, hanging his head.

“Hey now,” Jason bounced him up and down to get his attention back. “If you’re good and if we’re both up to it, I’ll take you on patrol tomorrow. How about that?”

“You will?” Dick threw him a skeptical look.

“Uhuh,” Red Hood nodded. “Just don’t tell them. They will kill me for endangering their Golden Boy like that. Deal?”

Dick sighed. This was the best option he could get in the circumstances and they both knew it.

“Deal.”


	11. Chapter 11

_The gunshot was unnaturally loud as Joker pulled the trigger._

“ _NO!!!” Dick yelled as Jason staggered back. He tried to catch him as his little brother went down, but he was too small and weak to hold him up and ended crushed under him instead._

_Joker laughed maniacally._

_Dick wriggled free from under Jason’s dead weight. No. Not dead. Not. Dead. Oh, God, please, not dead. With difficulty he rolled Red Hood onto his back. First thing he saw was blood. So, so much blood. To much. Jason’s entire chest was drowning in it. Dick choked and desperately tried to find a pulse on his neck. There was none._

“ _No, nonononononono,” Dick protested, tears springing to his eyes. “Jay, please, please. No.”_

_Joker was still laughing in the background._

“ _Jay, wake up, please,” he shook Red Hood’s body desperately. “Wake up! Jason!”_

 

“Jason!” Dick screamed, bolting upright. He was breathing hard, trying to choke back the sobs that threatened to rip from his chest. The fact that he was alone in unfamiliar place and it was so dark he couldn’t really see anything didn’t help at all and soon he was sobbing, despite his efforts.

It took him a long time to calm down, the oppressive darkness and the feel of cold, empty space around him adding to his feeling of despair and abandonment. When he finally managed to pull himself together somewhat and actually focus on something else than his nightmare, he realized that he was in bed. A quick look around as his eyes adjusted to the darkness revealed, that he was in his bedroom at the manor. He scrambled to his bedside table and turned on the lamp. The light made him feel a little better. Wiping his face on the sleeve of his hoodie, Dick scanned the room with a frown.

The last thing he remembered was being in the Cave on the comms with the rest of his family. Red Robin and Robin just took down Poison Ivy and were waiting for the police to arrive to take her back to prison. Then it was just a sensation of being carried and warmth he now associated with conditions of his wish being fulfilled. Alaila told him he would just know, when someone did what was required. Therefore he expected something along the lines of being zapped, so the warmth was much welcome and pleasant surprise. Too bad he didn’t know who was it.

His eyes landed on the old, stuffed elephant on the top shelf. His sudden desire to hold it caused him to scramble off the bed and climb on the desk adjacent to the shelf the mascot was on. He snatched it from it’s place and hugged the elephant tightly to his chest with both arms. Yeah, he was feeling a lot better for now.

Carefully he climbed back down and went back to the bed to put on his shoes. Then he walked out of his room. He stopped at the threshold, frozen in fear. And he thought his apartment was bad. It was nothing compared to the manor at night. Dark and even darker shadows along the empty, long corridor. Still and silent. Dick gulped and glued himself to the wall, clutching at the elephant. He slowly started to move along the wall, pausing every few seconds to listen if any monsters lurked around. Nothing. The others were still in the cave or patrol. Otherwise someone would check on him when he screamed and cried. Hopefully.

Eventually he reached the staircase. He briefly contemplated just sliding down on the bannister, but Jason’s, not dead still alive not dead notdeadnotdeadnotdead, warning and the dark space changed his mind. Besides he did promise to be good.

Downstairs was actually far better, because there were actually a few lamps on, albeit dim, but still. More confidently Dick tucked his elephant under his arm and strode to the entrance to the Cave. And then stared in frustration at the old clock. How was he supposed to open the secret door now?

“Master Dick, what are you doing up?” came the unexpected voice from behind the boy.

Dick yelped in surprise and quickly turned around, ready to defend himself.

“Alfred!” the kid sighed in relief, putting hand over his pounding heart. “You scared me.”

“So I see,” the butler replied, corners of his mouth twitching up in amusement. “Is there something you require?”

“I just wanted to see how everyone was doing,” Dick fidgeted. “Apparently I fell asleep on the job.”

“You didn’t miss much,” Alfred comforted, opening the door. They started to walk down the stairs. “Master Bruce managed to track down Bane and the others rounded up a few remaining escaped patients. They are looking for Riddler and Joker now.”

“Joker,” Dick repeated, clutching his stuffed toy harder.

“Yes,” Alfred confirmed. “It seems he was the one behind the whole escape from Arkham and he used the others to distract everyone while he disappeared.”

“Not good,” Dick muttered and sighed. “Anyone got hurt?”

“As of five minutes ago no one even got a bruise,” the butler declared proudly. It was rare when anybody got back from patrol without some kind of injury. “Is it enough for you to go back to sleep?”

Dick shook his head.

“I can’t sleep now.” He sighed resignedly, “though I should. Jason said he will take me on patrol later.”

“Did he now?” Alfred asked, a touch of disapproval in his tone of voice.

Oops.

“Yeah?” Dick rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “We made a deal. I stay here today and he will take me out tomorrow.”

“I see,” Alfred hummed. “In that case, we should find you some costume, don’t you think?”

Dick lit up instantly. For the next half an hour he patiently let Alfred take measurements of his new body. Then he shuffled back to his previous station and watched the proceedings on the cases. Barbara had everything under control so he didn’t interfere. Soon his eyelids started to drop, but he fought the sleep with everything he had. He wanted to see his family home, unharmed. And Jason. He wanted Jason. But he would probably bail the moment the Bats were done for the night, so Dick had to content himself with video feeds and chatter on the comms to tell him Red Hood was alive and unharmed.

Finally, just before dawn, Batman decided to call it and they started to head back. Dick jumped up from his chair and started pacing to keep himself awake. Soon he got tired and just sat down back and he kept himself from falling asleep by the sheer force of will.

Eventually all the Bats appeared in the Batcave almost simultaneously, making a ruckus with motorcycles and cars. Even Jason, to Dick’s delight.

Dick looked at each of them closely while they put their equipment down, checking for injuries. Satisfied, that they were indeed fine, he let himself relax. He yawned widely and slid from the chair, clutching his toy. He heard Stephanie aww in the background as he sleepily made a beeline for Red Hood. He purposefully collided with his legs and raised his hands in silent demand to be picked up.

Jason sighed and complied, inwardly smirking as Batman scowled at the fact that Dick went straight for him, ignoring everyone else, the Big Bad Bat included. Dick immediately wrapped himself around him tightly, the stuffed elephant smacking Jason in the side of his face.

“Can we go home now?” Dick whined tiredly into his neck.

“Don’t you want to stay in the manor?” Jason questioned in surprise.

Dick made a series of muffled noises, which were supposed to be a sentence.

“What?” Red Hood asked, laughter in his voice.

Dick just grunted, shifting to get more comfortable and closer to the warmth Jason’s neck provided. In the space of one breath and the next he was fast asleep.

“Seriously,” Jason shook his head fondly.

“That was the cutest thing ever,” Stephanie gushed, replaying the video she just filmed on her phone.

“Yeah,” Tim agreed, aiming his own phone at Jason and taking a few photos.

“I have much better angle,” Damian announced smugly from behind and _above_ Jason.

“Seriously, guys,” Red Hood repeated in exasperation. “Fuck off.”

“Master Jason,” Alfred admonished, appearing next to him.

“Sorry, Alfie,” Jason said quickly.

“Maybe you should stay,” the butler suggested. Or more like ordered in his calm, polite way. “It’s pretty late for driving after the night you all had.”

“Yeah, whatever,” Red Hood agreed easily.

He was tired. And the thought of wrestling with sleeping Dick and the car seat and then driving to his safe house or back to Blüdhaven wasn’t too appealing.

“Excellent,” Alfred stated in satisfaction. “I took liberty of preparing your room for the night. If you would be so kind to return Master Dick to his own bed?”

“Sure thing, Alfie,” Jason tossed his jacket on the table along with his gear and left the cave.

He walked to Dick’s bedroom to find the door open, lamp on and sheets rumpled. He shook his head and went inside. He sat on the bed and took off Dick’s shoes. Then he leaned down to lay the kid on the bed. Or tried to. Dick clung to him even in his sleep and didn’t want to let go. Too tired to fight, Jason kicked off his own shoes, turned the lamp off and laid down, tugging the covers over them both.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for all mistakes. I'm even more sleepy than Dick in this chapter ;p


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay. This chapter is extra long, like _extra long_ to make up for that ;) Next chapter will probably be late too.
> 
> There is a reference to one of the episodes of _Gotham_ (I wonder if you'll get it ;)) and some spoiler notes at the end of this chapter, if you're not watching this show. 
> 
> **DISCLAIMER:** I don't own _Batman_ / _Nightwing_ / _Red Hood_ / _Gotham_ and it's characters.

“Please, try to stay out of sight,” Red Hood requested. He was being paranoid and overprotective, he knew. But he couldn’t help it, especially because Dick became very clingy since this morning.

Jay was woken up just a couple of hours after he went to sleep by Dick’s quiet whimpering and restless moving next to him. Concerned, he checked the boy over. He didn’t find anything wrong with him, besides the fact he was crying in his sleep. Jason frowned and shook Dick lightly to wake him up. Dick remained asleep, just cried out Jay’s name with fresh wave of tears following. Apparently the kid was too exhausted to even woke up from a nightmare. Jason winced in sympathy and curled around Dick protectively.

“Shh, it’s okay,” he murmured soothingly. He kissed Dick’s sweaty forehead, reaching for discarded stuffed elephant. He tucked it next to Dick and the boy immediately latched onto it with a death grip. Jason shifted to a more comfortable position and gathered Dick closer. He rubbed his back and kept whispering reassurances into his ear until Dick settled down. He checked on the kid once more and went back to sleep.

When Jason woke up around noon, Dick was still asleep. He carefully extracted himself from the bed and after borrowing some clothes from the drawer, went to take a shower in the adjacent bathroom. Done with showering and dressing, Jason walked back to the room to find Dick sitting on the bed. He was looking around blearily, clearly still half asleep, clutching the toy to his chest. His eyes shined with unshed tears, corners of his mouth were turned down and his chin trembled. Shit, did the kid have another nightmare while he was in the bathroom?

“Hey,” Jason called softly, walking closer.

Dick immediately zeroed in on him and with an incoherent noise scrambled across the bed to him.

Jason sat down on the edge of the bed and allowed Dick to wrap himself around him.

“Hey, it’s okay,” Jason comforted just as he had done earlier. “It was just a dream.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” Jason asked after Dick calmed down. A lot quicker this time. Dick shook his head. “Do you want to go back to sleep?” Another head shake. “Alright. Go take a shower, then-” Jason almost choked as Dick tightened his hold around his neck at that. “Jesus! Easy. I’m not going anywhere. I promise. I’ll just sit here, while you shower and then we’ll go find something for breakfast. Yeah?” He jostled the limpet a few times. “C’mon,” he encouraged.

Dick pulled away with great reluctance, throwing him a skeptical look. Jason refrained from rolling his eyes, just barely. Instead he got up and walked to the bag he packed before their trip to the manor, which appeared mysteriously by the now closed door.

“Take your pick,” Jason invited, setting Dick down on his feet.

Dick pulled out the clothes he wanted and handed them to Jason, then he grabbed his leg and dragged them both to the bathroom. Jason sighed and went obediently.

“Do you need any help?” Red Hood asked as he put the bundle of clothes on the small counter.

Dick surveyed the bathing room and shook his head. Still, he made a distressed sound and frantically grabbed at Jason when he moved to leave the room.

“Dick?” Red Hood crouched down, worried. “What’s wrong?”

His only response was the kid latching onto his neck again.

Jason sighed. He wasn’t sure what to do now. The only thing clear was, that Dick didn’t want him to leave and wanted to have him within his line of sight at least. Cuddling was apparently the thing Dick wanted the most, but there was no way Jason was taking another shower with the kid.

“You know,” Jay mused, trying not to shudder at the thought of what he was about to propose. “The sooner you get cleaned up, the sooner _we_ can eat breakfast and spend time watching some movies with everyone else.”

Dick heaved a sigh and nodded, slowly pulling away. Because movie time was basically a cuddle feast for the acrobat, and they all knew it.

“Get to it,” Jason ordered lightly. “I’ll wait for you here.”

Dick nodded again and pushed at Jason to get him out of the bathroom, closing the door after him. Jason chuckled and went to sprawl himself on the chair to wait. A minute later Dick peeked out.

“Still here,” Jason assured.

Little Nightwing went red with embarrassment and slammed the door shut.

About ten minutes later Dick emerged from the bathroom. He seemed more composed, clad in jeans and black shirt with Red Hood’s logo. His wet hair dripped onto the towel he had wrapped around his neck as he walked up to Jason.

“Maybe we should get your hair cut,” Jason grinned, as he tugged the towel free and proceeded to rub Dick’s head dry. The kid leant into it eagerly.

“There,” Jay declared after he deemed the hair dry enough and wrestled it into some sort of order. He got up and chucked the towel into the bathroom without even looking. He didn’t want to see what mess Dick managed to create in there. Not before breakfast at least.

“Up,” Dick demanded, throwing his arms up, looking at Jason expectantly.

“Oh, he speaks!” Red Hood exclaimed, picking the kid up. Predictably, Dick wrapped himself around him tightly. “Seriously, Dickie-Bird, tell me what’s wrong, because I have no idea what to do.”

“Joker killed you,” Dick sniffed. “And I couldn’t do anything to stop him.”

Jason froze momentary. Yeah, he had an idea it was about him, but he wasn’t expecting it to be _that_.

“Been there, done that,” Jason said. “I’m here and fine now.”

“But Joker is still out there,” Dick pointed out.

Yeah, well…

“He’s laying low for now,” Red Hood comforted. “Besides the entire Batclan has my back this time around.” As much as he didn’t want to admit it.

“Of course,” Dick affirmed.

“So don’t worry too much,” Jason started to the exit from the room. “And I’ll be extra careful, okay?”

“Okay,” the kid echoed.

Jason paused at the entrance.

“You’re not bringing your elephant?” he asked.

Dick shook his head violently and buried deeper into Jason’s shoulder. Ah, the embarrassment.

“That’s a shame,” Jason teased. “It was so cute.”

“Shut up,” Dick grumbled.

They were the last ones to make it to the dining room. Alfred shooed them away from the kitchen, stating, that there was too many of them to fit comfortably around the table there, so the breakfast was served in the other room. Others were already there in various stages of getting breakfast.

“Finally!” Stephanie exclaimed as she spotted them. “I was about to go to wake you up.” She smiled slyly, “And maybe get some more cute pictures of you sleeping and cuddling.”

Dick looked at him questioningly. Jason just shook his head, sorely regretting not closing and locking the door to Dick’s room as soon as he got there. He put the kid down and made his way to sit on one of the two free seats between Damian and Tim. Dick on the other hand made a point to great each of them with a hug. Jason didn’t pay attention to that, because he was too busy staring at Bruce.

Bruce, whom choked a little in surprise as he saw the red bat on Dick’s shirt. And then honest to God pouted. Just for a moment, before he caught himself and schooled his expression back into calm indifference. Then he shifted his eyes to Jason.

“I didn’t know they make those,” he said carefully.

“I didn’t either,” Jay shrugged.

“Of course they do,” Dick stated, scrambling up into Jason’s lap and stealing food from his plate.

“Why wouldn’t they?” Tim commented. “Red Hood is as much of Blüdhaven’s hero as Nightwing is.”

“Really?” Jason questioned curiously.

Yeah, he maybe wandered into Blüdhaven and helped a bunch of people there. He didn’t even kill anyone then. But the incidents were few and far between, so he didn’t think he made a difference. Apparently he was wrong.

Everyone paused to stare at him incredulously.

“You didn’t know?” Dick sounded so distressed by that, that Jason instantly moved to sooth him.

“I know now,” Jason shrugged indifferently, though the knowledge blew his mind. And Dick was okay with it despite Blüdhaven being _his_ city. “So everything is alright in the world. Let’s eat, you little thief. I’m starving.”

They went back to eating and then relocated to the living room to watch a movie.

Jason sat on the couch, Dick immediately was back on his lap, snuggling up to all of his heart’s content. Tim soon followed, cuddling into Jason’s left side and reluctant Damian into right a minute later. Huh, apparently the stern talking to Red Hood dished out to them between one bad guy and the next had worked. He’ll just wait and see for how long it would last.

After the movie they dispersed. Bruce went to the office to get some of his work done. Damian seemed to use all of his reserves for being in their presence for the moment, because he went down to the Cave to train. Barbara went home. Cassandra got called back to China and had a plane to catch soon. Stephanie decided to accompany her, so the two of them went to prepare for the trip. Jason offered to give them a lift to the airport. And where Jason went, Dick of course followed. Tim invited himself along.

While they were waiting for the girls to come back down, Dick amused himself with playing on the chandelier and banister. Jason and Tim watched him closely, ready to catch him if he happened to fall. He didn’t, but he took to just flinging himself at them expecting them to catch him anyway.

Finally the girls were ready and they bundled into the car. At the airport Dick hugged the life out of Cass and Steph, sniffing all the while and made them promise to come back soon. After they watched the take off, the boys made their way back to the car.

“So,” Tim stuck his hands into the pockets and shuffled his feet as Jason unlocked the car. “You have something to tell me?”

“Nope,” Red Hood stated, and sat in the driver’s seat.

“Huh?” Dick looked at him questioningly.

Tim shook his head with a smile and held the door open for him to get in the back and then got in himself. He shifted to look behind him from the passenger seat at Dick, who struggled with straps on the car seat with more expertize than before.

“Last night,” Tim prompted. “You told me you have to tell me something when I carried you upstairs. You were out of it though, so you may not remember.”

“It was you?” Dick asked in surprise. He was sure it was Alfred, since only he and Barbara were in the manor at the time.

“How do we know it was really you?” Jason chimed in protectively.

Tim huffed in amusement.

“I went back to the Cave to pick up more of the antitoxin,” he explained. “Dick was asleep and Alfred wanted to take him to his room. I volunteered instead. He even let me go in the costume.” He looked at Dick, “You said to remind you to tell me something.”

Dick bit his lip and glanced at Jason.

“He did went to the Cave for something,” Red Hood confirmed.

Oh. So it was Tim, then. But. He couldn’t do it. Jason knowing was bad enough and Dick still was waiting for him to just up and leave.

“I just wanted to tell you I love you,” Dick said instead going into details of his wish.

Jason snorted.

“I love you too, Dick,” Tim replied easily.

“Alright, enough of this crap,” Jason protested, starting the car. “We gotta prepare for patrol.”

Dick lit up instantly.

“I’m ready!” the kid shared excitedly. “Alfred made me a new costume! It has everything my old one has.”

“What?” Jason choked out.

“You’re going on patrol?” Tim asked, horrified.

“You weren’t supposed to say anything!” Jason exclaimed.

“It slipped out,” Dick shrugged.

“Jason!” Tim scolded.

“Hey!” Red Hood defended. “You would rather Dick sneak out on his own?”

Tim shuddered at the thought.

“Yeah, didn’t think so,” Jason commented.

“I’m not a child!” Dick cried indignantly. “I’m perfectly capable-”

“We had a deal?” Jason interrupted.

Dick pouted and crossed his arms angrily.

“We had a deal,” he gritted out.

“End of discussion then,” Jay settled.

The rest of the ride passed in silence. Once they were in the manor, Tim went to check on his Titans team. Dick used his puppy dog eyes to coerce Jason into watching another movie with him, practically purring as he cuddled some more with his little brother.

Jason used that time to plan their patrol route. First, they would go earlier than usual, because Jason didn’t want to drag a tired child around the city if he didn’t really had to. Second, he wanted to go into more safe areas, so they had better chance at not getting into something way over their heads.

After the movie they ate some dinner and loitered around until Jason announced it was time for them to head out.

Dick skipped happily next to him on the way to the Batcave and then hid himself, while he dressed into his uniform. Jason waited patiently, going through the checkup on his gear.

“Well? What do you think?” Dick asked, twirling around once he popped back up next to Red Hood, startling him a little.

Jason looked down at him and smiled.

Dick was dressed similar to his Nightwing outfit. All black with a blue V covering his chest and back. However he didn’t have strips down his arms and fingertips and weirdly enough Jason missed those.

“Perfect, Tiny Nightwing,” Red Hood praised.

“You are not calling me that,” Dick huffed.

“Uhuh,” Jason shrugged, picking up his helmet. “Let’s go.”

The patrol was going fine. They stopped a few muggings. Dick delighted in jumping on perpetrators out of nowhere, dancing around them and laughing when they couldn’t catch him. It was quite fun. Until they came across a few members of a gang with guns, readying to rob a jewel store.

So now Jason was fretting about the possibility of Dick being hurt. But true to Red Hood’s request, little Nightwing remained hidden while he dealt with the gang. In fact Jason was worried he got caught, when he didn’t join in. But a quick checkup between securing the thugs and police arrival revealed perfectly content to watch Dick perched on the fire escape.

Red Hood stood back while the officers took care of the gang members, alert for any troubles that might come up.

Another police car pulled up and Commissioner himself exited it. He exchanged a few words with the policemen already on the scene and walked to Jason.

Jason raised an eyebrow, surprised at his presence.

“To what do I owe the pleasure of having you at this petty crime scene, Commissioner?” he drawled, smirking under his helmet.

“Heard you were involved,” Gordon shrugged. “Haven’t see you in a while and wanted to check up on you.”

Red Hood’s smirk turned into a genuine smile and he took his helmet off, leaving him in red domino.

“I’m alright,” he replied. “I’ll be better when we’ll put Joker away.”

They both knew Jason didn’t mean the prison.

“We’re doing what we can,” Commissioner replied. “But he disappeared.”

“Yeah, I know,” Red Hood sighed. “We couldn’t find him either.”

They stood for a moment, watching as the officers bundled the last thug into the police van and prepared to leave.

“So,” Commissioner said, “Oracle told me what happened. Is he really…?” he waved his hand a little.

“Oh, you mean little Gordon?” Jason grinned. “Want to see for yourself?” Without waiting for a reply he whistled. A moment later a small figure clad in black dropped down next to them.

“Hi, Uncle Jim!” Dick smiled brightly up at the Commissioner.

Gordon for his part, didn’t even look too surprised. Probably Barbara showed him the pictures already.

“Hi,” he just replied. “How do I call you?”

“Tiny Nightwing,” Jason promptly answered.

“Hood!” Dick protested for the up-tenth time this evening.

Gordon leaned down and picked him up, tucking him half under his arm.

“Red Hood is right,” he declared. “You are tiny. And you shouldn’t be on patrols at all,” he scolded.

Dick looked chastised for a few seconds, but then he light up again, but with a much softer smile, that Jason recognized. Another score on an account of the wish.

“You know him,” Jason shrugged. “There is no way to keep him away.”

“I suppose,” Gordon agreed and fixed Red Hood with a hard stare, “You better watch him.”

“When do I not?” Red Hood questioned, putting his helmet back on. “Just one hour more and we’ll call it a night. Other Bats can take over.”

Gordon nodded and turned his serious stare at Dick, “Stay out of trouble.”

“As always, Uncle Jim,” mini Nightwing declared happily.

Commissioner groaned, because Dick always went looking for trouble rather than stay out of it, and put him down.

“Speaking of trouble,” Jason smiled when Dick leapt onto his back. “Do you have some case for us?”

Gordon sighed and without a word pulled a folder from inner pocket of his coat.

“Thanks!” Dick took it before Jason even managed to raise his hand. Instead he shrugged, prompting Nightwing to shift his position into something more secure. Sure now that he wouldn’t fall off, Red Hood fired his grappling gun.

“See you around, Uncle Jim,” Jason saluted sloppily, letting the line pull them up.

“Bye!” Dick waved.

“Be safe!” Gordon called after them.

Not even an hour later, Jason lugged an exhausted Dick back to the manor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **WARNING! SPOILERS FOR _GOTHAM_ AHEAD!!!**  
>  The scene in Gotham season 1 episode 16 when John Grayson declared they will name their son Gordon after Jim was epic.  
> It's totally my headcanon, that Dick and Jason traveled back in time, met Gordon, were forced to tell him a few things about the future and helped him, while figuring their way home. So Dick and Jason totally were around for this scene. Gordon was all horrified, because who would want to name their child Gordon and said child was standing _right there_ going by totally different name. Jason was dying from laughter and he brought it up whenever he could. All the other Bats thought he was referring to Dick being married to Barbara, so they were confused by Dick's reactions to Red Hood calling him Gordon.


	13. Chapter 13

When Dick woke up in the morning in his bed in his room at the manor, he was alone. He tried not to be disappointed by that. It wasn’t like Jason would sleep with him every night and he tried not to get too used to that for this very reason.

Dick frowned a little. He clearly remembered Jason grumbling as he wrestled him out of his Tiny Nightwing uniform, Dick too uncoordinated in his fatigue to do it by himself, and then carrying him upstairs and laying him down on the couch in the living room. Then Jason said something about getting their stuff and being back in a minute. Dick just curled up under the blanket Jay threw over him and went to sleep. And woke up alone. In his bed. At the manor. Where he wasn’t meant to be, if Jason’s intention to leave yesterday was any indicator.

Did Red Hood changed his mind? It was possible, since the bag was still by the door, though Jay seemed quite happy to leave the manor for patrol last evening.

Dick sighed, throwing the covers off of him. The stuffed elephant fell to the side with the movement. Dick eyed it suspiciously. He didn’t thought much of it before, too focused on being worried to care much from where his sources of comfort came. He picked it up and held it for a moment experimentally. Yeah, the soft toy made him feel a little better, so he shrugged and hugged it to his chest. Everyone had seen him with it already, so he didn’t have any dignity left to lose.

Dick went through his morning routine, put his Red Hood shirt on just to see Bruce twitching and Jay enjoying the view, and went downstairs to the kitchen.

As he expected, Alfred was there, preparing and serving breakfast. Damian was scowling at his plate, stabbing furiously at his meal. Tim sipped his coffee, typing something on his laptop. Bruce was reading a newspaper. All in all, a normal morning at the manor.

“’Morning everybody!” Dick greeted them cheerfully.

They greeted him back, each in their own way.

Dick climbed onto the chair and paused. He looked around, counted the plates. It didn’t add up.

“Where’s Jay?” he asked.

Tim’s typing ceased instantly. Damian made a particularly vicious stab at a piece of egg, nearly breaking the plate. Alfred slowed in his work.

“Jason’s not here,” Bruce said, taking a sip from his mug, not even bothering to look from around the newspaper he hid himself behind.

“Oh,” Dick said in a small voice. He knew it would happen. He prepared for it even. But it still hurt. Jason had to have enough of him after all of this and took his chance to dump Dick on the rest of the Bats and bailed. Maybe if he wasn’t so needy and clingy, Red Hood would stay longer-

“Father and Todd got into a fight after he learned he took you on patrol,” Damian cut into Dick’s self-loathing. “And he decided, that Todd is unfit to look after you and you should stay here.”

It took a few seconds for Dick to process the information and come to most likely conclusions.

“What?” Dick let out his best Batman growl, the power behind it not hindered by his childish voice.

Bruce sighed and finally, _finally_ , deigned to lower the paper to look at him.

“Dick-” he started.

“No!” Dick shouted. “You don’t get to do that! You don’t get to decide what I’m doing with my life! And you definitely don’t get to decide with whom I’m spending my time with!”

“Told you,” Tim muttered.

“Dick,” Bruce tried again.

The kid pushed off the table.

“I’m not hungry anymore,” he stated and jumped down. “Thanks, Alfred.”

Before anyone could react he ran out of the kitchen, clutching the elephant tightly.

He headed to his room, slamming the door behind him as hard as he could to show his frustration to anyone who followed him. He locked it for good measure. It wouldn't really hold back anyone in this house, but it got his point across, that he didn't want to talk to anybody. Dick slid against the door to sit on the floor, pulled his knees up to his chest, and buried his face in the elephant's soft material, trying to calm down. He had cried enough this past two days. It was embarrassing just how much.

Dick contemplated briefly just sneaking out and going to Jason. But that would just cause more problems than it solved. He didn't know where Jason was. And he just couldn't wander around the city looking for him in his various safe houses. It would be too dangerous for him in his current state. And the Joker was still on the loose. Also the others would unnecessarily worry about him after they would discover he was missing. At last he hoped so. Jay would be furious and mad at him. But why should he care about what Jason thought? He left. He left him! After promising he wouldn't.

Maybe Dick could call him? He uncurled with every intention to do just that, but froze. What if Jason wouldn't pick up? What if he didn't want to have anything to do with him anymore? What if he answered the call just to tell Dick that? But Jason loved him. He fulfilled his wish. But apparently it wasn’t enough to make him stay.

Dick sniffed. Being a child was supposed to be fun. Instead it was just one long nightmare of emotional roller coaster. He didn’t know what he was thinking and hoped to achieve by agreeing to that. He should just leave things the way there were and stay away as much as he could while being blissfully unaware of his family’s stance about him, regardless of how much it hurt him to do so. Being abandoned, for whatever good reason, hurt even more.


	14. Chapter 14

Damian was furious.

How Father could do such a thing? Granted, he himself didn’t approve of Todd caring for miniaturized Grayson. Red Hood used to kill people and had been mentally unstable for a while and Damian still wasn’t convinced he recovered enough to not to be a danger for Nightwing in a such vulnerable condition. But even he could admit that Jason had a positive effect on the kid. Dick was more relaxed and a lot happier when Red Hood was around, something he lacked for the last few months. Grayson even allowed Jason to treat him like a child, whereas anybody else would get their head bit off for that. Not that Jason treated him as one. He somehow managed to keep the balance between coddling Dick and giving him his freedom so far. And Grayson actually _listened_ to Jason, most of the time, when it really counted. So how the goddamned Batman could be oblivious to those facts?

And Todd! How could he be so irresponsible to take Grayson on patrol without him to watch over the kid while Red Hood was busy beating the thugs unconscious? Damian was the youngest and he got babied like that a lot, so the missed opportunity of returning the favor to Dick the same way was a sore spot for him. That and he missed all the fun.

Although Damian shared most of his Father’s opinions on the matter, he thought Bruce totally overreacted. Yelling at Todd for taking the child Grayson on patrol? Okay, fair enough. But forbidding Red Hood from interacting with Grayson without supervision and deciding to practically lock Dick away in the manor? Totally over the top. Despite Dick being small, he still was an adult, as Jason was fond of reminding them, and he could make his own choices. Damian didn’t want to be around when Dick would find out about that.

Still, Todd could put up more of a fight about the matter, the idiot. Though after witnessing the alteration Damian was ready to cut him some slack. It was a miracle already, that Jason managed to last with the Bat so much time without a fight until now, and he wasn’t the one who started it too.

So Damian let him go, gave them both time to calm down and think. Meanwhile he would watch over Grayson in Todd’s stead. Because Jason actually leaving Dick in the manor with them was a huge sign of trust on his part.

Damian finished his breakfast and excused himself from the table. He quickly went to his room and gathered his things for school. A minute later he found himself before door to Dick’s room. He knocked hesitantly.

“Grayson? Are you in there?” he asked.

A quiet sniffle was his answer. Oh God. Grayson was crying. Damian cringed. He was so out of his depth here. He didn’t know what to do.

“Don’t worry,” he tried. “Todd will come back eventually.”

“Thanks, Damian,” Dick said after a few seconds of silence. “Have a nice day at school.”

“Yeah,” Robin agreed lamely. “You too.”

The little al Ghul thought about the incident all the way to school and during classes. He needed to make Grayson feel better somehow. To show Red Hood, that he wasn’t a total failure in taking care of his eldest brother like he thought the whole family was. He was heading down the corridor for his last class, when a pair of students he was walking by gave him an idea.

“Pennyworth,” Damian said imperiously as he seated himself in the back of the car after school ended for the day. “I wish to go to the store before we get home.”

“Very well, Master Damian,” the old butler replied.

Five shops, many insults at the lack of stocking in merchandise in those stores and a trip to Blüdhaven later, Damian got what he wanted.

When they got home, Dick was out of his self imposed exile watching some cartoons on television in the living room. Alone.

“Where is Mater Timothy?” Alfred asked.

Dick shrugged.

“He had to go to the emergency meeting at the Wayne Enterprises. He waited as long as he could for you to get back, but you were late,” Dick turned to look at them. “Where were- What is that?” he questioned curiously at something Damian held behind his back.

“Um, well,” Damian shifted nervously and held out the object in front of him. “It’s for you. To make you feel better until Todd finally decide to show up.”

Dick’s jaw dropped slightly, staring at the plushie in Damian’s hands like hypnotized. _Red Hood_ plushie. _Half his size_ Red Hood plushie. _Damian_ got him a half his size Red Hood _plushie_. He scrambled on his feet hastily and rushed at his little brother, wrapping him in a quick hug.

“Thank you, Dami,” he took the toy looking at in awe. “It’s perfect.”

“You’re welcome,” Robin mumbled back.

“Hey, do you want to watch cartoons with me?” Dick looked up at him hopefully.

“Just one episode,” Damian allowed. “I have homework to do.”

“Okay!” Dick beamed and dragged the boy to the couch.

Damian went along, pleased he managed to make Grayson happy. He didn’t even protest as Dick curled into his side with the plushie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The plushie thing made me think of a cute Jay/Dick story by AnotherIcarus - _[Ransom](https://archiveofourown.org/works/483310)_ :)


	15. Chapter 15

“That went well,” Tim commented sarcastically after Dick escaped. Bruce glared at him and he glared in return. “What did you expect will happen? That he’ll roll over and take it?”

Bruce’s stony silence was clear indication that, yes, he did expect something along those lines.

“Unbelievable,” Tim exclaimed and went back to typing.

Damian finished his breakfast and vanished upstairs.

“His… attachment… to Jason is... unhealthy,” Bruce stated after a moment of silence.

“Oh my God!” Tim slammed his laptop shut and rubbed at his temples. “Are you serious right now?”

“What’s unhealthy, Master Bruce, is your jealousy that Dick prefers Jason’s company over your own,” Alfred commented casually.

“Wait,” Tim looked at Alfred and then at Bruce with wide eyes. “Really? That’s what this is about?”

“It’s not,” the Batman denied. “It’s about Jason being irresponsible and clearly not-”

“Oh my God it totally is!” Tim buried his face into his hands and laughed. “Oh my God.”

“Tim,” Bruce shook his head.

“No, no, no,” Red Robin interrupted him. “It’s hilarious. Bruce Wayne got all jealous because his de-aged son likes his other son better. It’s a shame it can’t make the headlines.” He chuckled some more, while Alfred finished cleaning up after breakfast and left to take Damian to school. Then Tim composed himself, looking at Bruce seriously, “Of course Dick’s attached. Jason was the first one to reach out to him.”

“He would have come to us eventually,” the billionaire defended.

“No, he wouldn’t,” Tim shook his head. “Not this time. It’s been _months_ , Bruce. It’s not how Dick operates, no matter how much you wish he would. And even if he did, in what condition do you think he would be in by then? We’re lucky Red Hood was in Blüdhaven on his birthday. Otherwise we probably wouldn’t know, that something happened to him until long after he didn’t show up to the party. And from what Jason said, Dick probably would be seriously injured or dead by then.”

“Hn,” was Bruce’s only comment.

Tim sighed and stood up, gathering his things.

“Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a little big brother to cheer up while you _fix this_. ” He made his way out of the kitchen but paused in the threshold, looking over his shoulder at Bruce. “Oh, and make sure you’ll get the angle of the camera right. We want to have a clear view of Jason eviscerating you.”

“He wouldn’t,” Bruce stated incredulously, followed by a lot more nervous, “Right?”

Tim grinned and walked away, whistling cheerfully. His good mood didn’t last long though. With a sigh, Tim climbed upstairs and headed towards Dick’s room. He knocked and then tried open the door, only to find it locked. Oh shit, he didn’t ran away, did he? Jason was going to kill them for real. And Bruce would be pissed, despite it being his own fault.

“Dick, are you in there?” Tim knocked more insistently.

“Go away!” came the muffled, wavering voice from the room.

Red Robin slumped against the door in relief. Oh, thank God, Dick was still there. Crying, but still safe in the manor.

“Dick, come out, please,” Tim requested. He was sorely tempted to pick the lock, but he knew it would just make things much worse.

“No,” came the defiant reply.

“Alright,” Tim made himself as comfortable as he could against the wall, opened his laptop and went to work while he waited for Dick to become less stubborn or get hungry enough to emerge.

About ten minutes later Dick peeked out, tears still falling from his reddened eyes.

“What are you doing?” he asked incredulously.

“Working,” Tim answered distractedly.

“Go to your room, or somewhere with a table and a chair,” miniature Nightwing fussed. “You can’t be comfortable here.”

“Well, I’m not,” Tim admitted. “But I’ll get lonely if I’ll go somewhere else.”

“That was lame,” Dick huffed opening the door wider and stepping out.

“It got you out,” Red Robin put his laptop aside and gently pulled at Dick. “Come here.”

Dick went into the hug willingly enough. Tim wrapped his arms around the child comfortingly and waited until the tears had stopped.

“You know, Jason’s leaving yesterday wasn’t your fault,” Tim murmured into his hair.

Dick only nodded. Because what else could he do? He didn’t want to talk about why Red Hood would leave. And he definitely didn’t want to talk about his self-imposed restrain in shows of affection.

Tim hummed and gestured at his laptop.

“I really need to finish this soon, so let’s get you something to eat. You can help me with that and then we’ll do whatever you want. Within reason.”

“Okay,” Dick agreed, moving around to Tim’s back while Red Robin grabbed his computer and stood up.

“Alright?” Tim checked.

Dick shifted a bit and tightened his grip, “Yes.”

A couch was definitely an improvement from the floor. Tim sat down, placed laptop on his knees and got to work while Dick finished his breakfast next to him. Then the kid climbed into his lap, forcing Red Robin to readjust his and computer’s positions to accommodate him. Dick watched for a while what he was working on, suggesting some thing here and there as he slowly took over the typing. Tim let him, relaxing back into the couch. He was cozy and warm and Dick’s weight against his chest was surprisingly comforting. He didn’t even know when he fell asleep.

Tim jerked awake sometime later. Dick was still sitting on him, though the laptop was now on the table and the TV was playing quietly. He groaned and rubbed at his eyes.

“Hi,” Dick smiled up at him.

“Hi,” Red Robin replied. “How long I was out?”

“About two hours,” Dick shrugged. “You work too much, Timmy.”

“So I heard,” Tim admitted. “So, since you did my work for me, how about ice cream?”

“Yeah!” Dick lit up and immediately jumped down, bouncing on his feet impatiently as Tim gathered himself to actually get up.

Tim chuckled and ruffled his hair.

“Maybe we’ll get you a haircut on the way,” he teased.

“Not you too,” the kid pouted. “I like my hair the way it is.”

“Fine, fine,” Tim put his hands up in surrender. “I’ll just let Jason shave it off while you’re asleep.”

“He wouldn’t!” Dick shrieked, covering his head protectively. He glared at his little brother, “Now I won’t sleep. Thanks!”

Red Robin laughed.

Tim drove them to the city and they got ice cream and then went to the movies. After that Tim wanted to let Dick tire himself out in the park, but the kid was anxious to go back to the manor. Tim tried to figure out why all the way back.

“It was fun,” Dick said with a forced enthusiasm when they entered the manor. “Thanks!”

“But?” Tim drawled.

“Nothing,” the kid dropped his gaze down and shuffled his feet. “I’ll leave you to your work now, I guess?”

Aw, shit. Jason was right. They didn’t paid enough attention to Dick until they were forced by him, and even then it was begrudgingly at best. Tim knew that, but he didn’t know how deeply affected Dick was by that. And he was affected. Very much. Jason’s protectiveness suddenly made a lot more sense.

“Barring a real emergency, I don’t have anymore work today,” Tim stated. “Bruce knows I have better things to do.”

“Oh,” Dick mumbled and turned in the direction of the TV room. “Okay then.”

Now that just wouldn’t do. Tim quickly closed the distance between them and lifted Dick up, ignoring his surprised yelp.

“And by better things I mean hanging out with my big bro,” Red Robin explained.

“Really?” Dick asked, and the skepticism in his voice hurt Tim.

Jesus, how Jason got through this?

“Of course!” Tim couldn’t stop himself from kissing Dick’s temple and squeezing him to his chest.

And that was the moment the fate decided to intervene. Tim’s phone went off. Work. Emergency. Fucking hell. Red Robin started swearing.

“It’s okay,” Dick smiled at him. “Go.”

“It’s not okay,” Tim shook his head. “At all. You want to come with me?”

“No,” Dick scowled. “Bruce.”

Ah, yes. The level of ‘you’re an asshole and I’m ignoring you’ Dick managed to achieve when Bruce crossed path with them as he was leaving for work was impressive.

“I can’t leave you alone here,” Tim said, imagining all the ways little Dick could kill himself if not supervised.

“Yes, you can,” Dick stated firmly. “I’m not a child.”

“I know that,” Tim sighed.

“Alfred and Damian should be home real soon if that makes you feel better,” the kid pointed out.

“They should be back an hour ago actually,” Tim bit his lip. “Are you sure you don’t want to come with me?”

“I’m sure,” Dick nodded. “How about that? I’ll just sit around and watch TV, no acrobatics since you’re so worried. And we can talk on the phone until you’re done or they come back?”

“Fine,” Tim agreed. Jason was soo going to kill him. “I’m sorry. I really am.”

“It’s fine,” Dick waved him off. “I understand. Have fun!”

“Right, fun,” Tim snorted and hurried to his car.

As they agreed, he talked to Dick until Alfred and Damian got back fifteen minutes later. As Dick disconnected Tim really hoped he wasn’t laying about that. When he got back to the manor it was late. Bruce and Damian were in the Batcave, readying for patrol and Dick loitered around with his plushie. Tim stopped and squinted at it. Was it… No way! He spied Bruce scowling at the toy, when he though nobody was looking. Oh my God! Whoever got Dick the Red Hood plushie was a genius.

“Hi guys,” he greeted with a large grin on his face.

“Tim!” Dick exclaimed, skipping to him and holding out the toy. “Look what Damian got me!”

Tim raised his eyebrows in surprise. Damian? He looked at Robin. Damian was very busy with something at his belt, avoiding his gaze. Batman shoot his son a betrayed look. It was amazing.

“Awesome,” he beamed at Dick. “How about we’ll let the Bat and Brat play and we watch a movie or something?”

“Aren’t you going on patrol?” Dick narrowed his eyes at him in suspicion.

“Nope. I told you, I don’t have work today.”

Dick grinned.

They watched a movie. Halfway in Dick started to drop. But it wasn’t until Dick curled up with the intention to sleep, that Tim turned the TV off and relocated them to Dick’s room. Naturally the kid suddenly was wide awake again.

“Go to sleep, Dick,” Tim encouraged.

“I don’t want to,” the child whined.

Tim sighed and then had an idea.

“Okay, well, why don’t you lie down anyway and I read to you?”

“Yes, please!” was the enthusiastic reply.

Tim smiled, picked up a random book and settled on the bed. Dick curled into his side, clutching his new plushie tightly. Four pages in and Dick was sleepy again.

Tim put the book aside and carefully arranged the child to lay fully on the bed under the covers.

“More?” Dick mumbled.

“Another time,” Red Robin whispered. “Sleep now. Jay will pick you up after his patrol.”

“Mm, okay,” Dick shifted into more comfortable position and fell asleep.

Tim picked the book back up and continued to read, waiting.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay. Christmas is coming, so there's a lot to do and I didn't really had the time to write.
> 
> Thank you for all the reviews and Merry Christmas!

Bruce was aware he screwed up. Not only he allowed his emotions to get better of him, but now all of his sons were pissed at him. And _then_ his life tended to be _miserable_. Usually he had at least one son trying to smooth things over between the others and him, so the situation was difficult, but manageable. But when four of them ganged up on him? Yeah, all his knowledge, training and careful planning wouldn’t help him. What was he thinking? Oh, right, he wasn’t. Maybe Alfred could help him? As soon as the thought occurred to him, he discarded it. His loyal butler clearly sided with his kids on this one. Which indicated, that Bruce was totally, undoubtedly, royally screwed.

It was just… He remembered how Dick was when he was little. How he used to adore Bruce, to look up to him and came to him with whatever bothered him or to just spend time with him. And how Bruce was jealous of Dick’s attention on Superman whenever he decided to drop by to visit.

Now all the looks of admiration and heroworshipping attention once belonging to Bruce and Superman were bestowed upon Jason alone. And Bruce couldn’t just get rid of him, like he did with Clark and have all his son for himself, so the green-eyed monster reared it’s ugly head and lashed out.

Bruce sighed and looked for a place to park his car. After an unpleasant breakfast, a non-confrontation with Dick in the corridor on his way out and his overall worry about what was in store for him if he didn’t at least try to fix things, he decided to detour from his route to Wayne Enterprises to a safe house Jason was using for the past week. The car parked, with convenient several escape routes, Bruce composed himself as much as he could and made his way to Jason’s door, hoping his second eldest son wouldn’t kill him on the spot. Jason didn’t like that the other Bats knew where he was squatting down for the time being, and especially not when they used that knowledge to show up unexpectedly and uninvited. Add to that, that he was pissed at Bruce for forcing him away from his charge he dedicated himself to protect. Yeah… At least he could make sure to give his sons a good source of entertainment. Bruce squared his shoulders, took a deep breath and knocked.

Silence.

He knocked once more.

“Jason? Are you in there?” he tried after another minute. “Open the door. We need to talk.”

More silence. Apparently Jason wasn’t even there.

Bruce sighed and hightailed out of there.

He made himself comfortable at his work, telling himself that he indeed tried. It wasn’t his fault Jason wasn’t there to talk things out. Yeah, that was his version of the truth and he was sticking to it. Bruce steadily ignored the voice in his head stating he was the goddamned Batman and if he really wanted he could track his son down to have this much needed conversation.

Bruce revised validity of his cowardly version, when Tim stopped by his office later and raised his eyebrow in question at him. Bruce hunched guiltily.

“He wasn’t home,” he muttered to the papers on his desk.

Tim sighed in exasperation and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Fine, whatever,” he stated. “I’ll tell him he can pick Dick up whenever.” He glared at Bruce, “And you will not stop him.”

Bruce could only nod in agreement. And grit his teeth and endure the torment at home. He was half expecting Dick being back under Jason’s careful watch, away from the manor. Then Bruce could calm down and relax in the knowledge Dick was safe and Bruce didn’t need to have the urge to compete for his attention. It would be like for the last long years since his eldest son decided to leave. Bruce at home, Dick out in the world, sometimes visiting or calling. Instead Dick was still in the manor and still mad at him. He was not only wearing his shirt with Red Hood’s symbol, but didn’t part with his Red Hood plushie for even a second the entire time he was in Bruce’s presence and ignoring him. Bruce didn’t know it was intentional or not, bombarding him with the evidence of his failures, but he was certain his sons got a good kick out of this. He would need to find whoever gave Dick the toy and exact revenge on his own.


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Merry Christmas everyone!**

The guilt settled heavily in his stomach the second Jason left the manor. He was just so angry at Bruce, that he needed to get away least he started killing. Dick was safe at the manor and he wasn’t alone. The kid was home, with the people he missed and loved, so what right Jason had to take him away from that? Besides Jason wasn’t even sure Dick would want to go with him anyway. Why would he? Bruce was right. Dick had everything he needed at the manor.

With that he managed to ease his guilty conscience to actually get some sleep, only to be woken up by angry-but-not-angry-at-him update on Dick’s faring at the manor courtesy of Damian. The guilt Jason managed to soothe came back with a vengeance.

Of course Dick would want to have all his family there with him. And whether Jason liked it or not, he _was_ family. Dick was adamant about it since the moment he learned who Red Hood really was. And no matter how many bullets, knives, punches, kicks, threats and curses Jason threw at him, he never stopped considering Jason as his little brother. Maybe a little insane, lost and misguided, but still a brother.

And what Jason did? He left him, after he promised he wouldn’t. After many reassurances he wouldn’t do that, despite Dick’s thickheaded idea, that he would disappear the first moment he was sure he wasn’t needed. Yeah, Dick didn’t say a word about that, but Jason just knew he was ready for the eventuality. Oh God, the idiot probably thought it was his clinginess that drove Jason away and probably will close up even more. That was bad, because this issue got them in this mess in the first place.

Jason groaned. Okay he needed to do something to make everyone happy. Somehow. Shit. Why him? It was Dick’s job. Shit. Again. Jason never appreciated how much juggling Dick had to do to keep everything balanced in their brooding family. Even with invaluable help from Alfred it was still a lot work to do.

But whatever. Jason decided to focus on Dick first, then deal with everything else later.

He went to Blüdhaven. First to his safe house to get his things, then to Dick’s apartment. He dumped his clothes in the spare drawer for emergencies as he planned earlier. Then he packed rest of the stuff he got for mini Nightwing. If he was staying at the manor he would need his new favorite pajamas. And it would stave Dick’s eventual meltdown when they would get him something he wouldn’t like to wear. Which was a huge possibility, since Bruce looked like he would burn Red Hood’s shirts the second he could get his hands on them without anyone knowing. On the other hand he was like that with every piece of clothing with superheros theme that wasn’t Batman, so they sort of get used to that. Still, it didn’t mean the suddenly disappearing clothes weren’t annoying.

Hm, he’ll need to ask Replacement to record Bruce’s demise if he would somehow manage to get his hands on Nightwing-Red Hood pajamas under Dick’s watch. And if Jason went to the store and bought another set. Well, nobody needed to know that.

Jason also cleaned Dick’s fridge, because it would take a while before the spell would be broken. And while he was at it he cleaned the rest of the apartment as well. Fortunately he didn’t need to do much, since Dick cleaned just before he was turned into a child.

For now Red Hood headed back to Gotham. He had a lot stuff to do and prepare. He would drop Dick’s things at the manor on his way to patrol when the Bat would be long gone on his own patrol. Maybe, if Dick still even wanted to see him and was up to it, he would take Tiny Nightwing on patrol again despite and because Bruce’s wishes. Jason wouldn’t mind keeping to low profile patrols for a while if it meant making Dick happy.

His plans had to change however. In the afternoon he got a call from Tim to let him know he could pick a very willing to come with him Dick up and he wouldn’t be stopped doing so.

Well, that was a fine development.

Jason hesitated a moment, thinking about the things he would need to do in this case and declared he would come for Dick after his patrol. Then he got to work.


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Happy New Year!**

The streets were fairy quiet, so Jason felt justified in ending his patrol earlier. Though his main reason was that he didn’t want to make the kid wait more than was absolutely necessary. Assuming Dick was waiting for him and wanted to come. Jason saw a lot groveling on his side in his near future, so he didn’t want to add more to already impressive list of reasons. On that note, he was curious how the Brats managed through the day with little Dick.

He cut through the city in the straightest and fastest route to the Batcave. He saw Robin on the way, swinging from one rooftop to the other, clearly trying out some new move and failing miserably. Jason chuckled at that and for a moment considered to join him to give Demon a few pointers, but then he saw Batman near Robin’s location. No. Just no. He decided to continue his trek, but before he could move Batman looked straight at him, freezing him in place. Jason calculated quickly his chances of escape in case Bruce decided that no, Red Hood wasn’t allowed near his Golden Boy after all. Tim was such a liar! He was so going to kill him after he shook off the Bat.

However Batman just gave him a slight nod and then turned around and vanished into the night, Robin dutifully following in his wake.

Jason picked up his jaw from the floor and headed to the manor, worried now. How bad things were, since Bruce gave in without even a word?

“Good evening, Mater Jason,” Alfred greeted him as soon as he entered the Cave.

“Hi, Alfred,” Jason greeted back. “What’s up?”

“Oh, the usual,” the butler replied wryly, gesturing at the computers where he monitored Batman’s and Robin’s progress. “Master Dick was quite distressed at not finding you here in the morning.”

“Yeah, well,” Jason shuffled his feet guiltily. “I’m here to pick him up actually. Where is he now?”

“I believe Master Timothy took him to his room.”

“Thanks, Alfie,” Jason nodded and walked to the stairs. “Good night.”

“Do step into the kitchen on your way out,” Alfred called after him. “I took liberty to prepare some food for you and Master Dick to take. Good night.”

“Sure thing, Alfie!” Red Hood replied.

Jason took two steps at a time until he found himself before door to Dick’s room. It was halfway open so Jason just went in. And stopped.

“What the hell is that?!” he cried incredulously, pointing at the toy Dick was strangling to death in his sleep.

“That,” Tim grinned and shut the book he was reading. “Is a Red Hood plushie.”

“Oh my God, they make plushies?!”

“Among many other things,” Tim confirmed. “Damian got it for him.”

“ _Damian_?” Jason repeated in disbelief.

“Yeah,” Red Robin answered with glee. “You should see Bruce. Dick didn’t let it go even for a second and he was so jealous I’m surprised it didn’t turn into ashes from the power of his glare.”

“Any footage?” Jason smirked, very carefully stowing away the warm feeling at Dick carrying plushie of him around to think about later.

“I’m sure some videos can be found,” Tim promised, then turned serious. “He missed you.”

“So I keep hearing,” Red Hood walked closer to the bed and looked down at his brothers.

“You were right,” Tim muttered, staring at sleeping child next to him. “We really are terrible brothers to him.”

Jason nodded.

“We can only hope he’ll learn to trust us again,” he stated.

“Speaking of which,” Red Robin latched onto the opening. “Why won’t any of you tell us what happened to turn him into a child?”

Jason sighed, carding hand through his hair.

“Us being a terrible family to him, that’s what happened,” he said carefully. “It’s complicated. He’ll remain a child, if a person, which didn’t fulfill certain conditions will learn about them.”

“You obviously did,” Tim considered. “Who else?”

“I can’t be certain,” Jason shrugged. “I haven’t really talked to him about it, but you, Babs, Cass, Steph. Commissioner.”

“And the conditions?”

“Nice try, Baby Bird,” Red Hood smirked. “You should talk with Dick about that. I already told you more than he would have liked.”

“Alright,” Tim conceded. “Are you staying here tonight?”

“Hell no,” Jason denied vehemently. “I’m getting out of here as fast as I can. I’m just thinking if I should wake him or let him sleep.”

Tim opened his mouth to make a suggestion, but any further conversation was cut off by Dick’s sudden whimper, causing his two little brothers to immediately look at him in concern.


	19. Chapter 19

_Dick was surrounded by complete darkness. The only thing visible to him was his outstretched hand, plushie of Red Hood he was clutching to him with the other hand and himself._

“ _Bruce?” he called into the blackness, his voice echoing slightly. “Tim?”_

_Nothing beside the sound of his own breathing and pounding of his heart._

“ _Jay?” Dick threw into the abyss hopefully._

“ _Here,” was the answer from somewhere to his left._

“ _Jay!” Dick cried, running in the direction the voice came from._

“ _I’m here,” the voice said with a chuckle. It was wrong somehow, but Dick didn’t pay it too much attention too busy in his haste to get to his little brother._

“ _Jay, where are you?” the little Nightwing stopped after some time without reaching Jason and looked around in the black._

“ _Right here, little birdie,” the painfully familiar voice replied, causing Dick to freeze in fear. It definitely wasn’t Jason._

_White hands reached for him and Dick stumbled back, tripping over nothing and going down._

“ _Jay!” Dick screamed, scrambling away as the hands moved closer and got a hold on his ankle. “No, no, no!” the kid tied to free his legs as he was pulled toward green haired head with crazy grin stretched across white face slowly emerging from the darkness around them. “Jay!”_

“ _That’s Uncle J to you, birdie,” Joker chuckled pulling him closer still until he was hovering over the struggling boy face to face._

_Dick froze in terror as Joker’s head came closer and closer. Red lips stretched in a wide grin surrounded by white filled his vision, blocking everything else._

“ _No!” Dick wailed and headbutted the clown, trashing to get free._

“Ow, fuck!” another voice cursed and the hands released him.

The boy scrambled back, but didn’t get far as he pressed his back against the headboard.

“Dick?” yet another voice asked worriedly.

Dick blinked. He was in his own bed in his room at the manor. To his left Tim was half laying on the bed, looking at him with concern. Jason was sitting on Dick’s right side, prodding his nose carefully and glaring into distance. Dick’s forehead throbbed.

Oh.

_Oh._

“I’m so sorry!” mini Nightwing cried. His body lurched toward Jason, but he remembered and managed to stop himself, hugging the toy instead. He shouldn’t show his worry, affection or neediness if he wanted his brothers to stay. But it was hard to do that, when he was shook to the core and wanted nothing more than wrap himself in Jay’s safe embrace.

“’S alright. I don’t think it’s broken,” Jason soothed, frowning at him. He saw the aborted move and despite his doubts about Dick actually wanting him to be there, pulled the boy to him. Dick didn’t fight him, but didn’t hug him back either. Aw, fuck. He exchanged a look with Tim.

“You’re lucky I didn’t have my helmet on,” Red Hood teased, “you would crack your head open.”

Dick didn’t answer, just endured Jason comforting him in silence. Jason sighed at a loss, rubbing Dick’s back soothingly. The little body in his arms trembled and Red Hood didn’t know if it was from fear, stress, suppressed emotions or mix of all of that.

“Come on, Dick, none of that,” Jason commanded, gently cupping kid’s face and tipping it up to look a t him. “I told you I don’t mind. I’m sorry I left. I didn’t mean to. It’s just… Bruce made me so angry I stopped thinking and just had to get away. It wasn’t your fault. It had nothing to do with you. I didn’t leave because of you.”

“R-really?” Dick questioned uncertainly, hopeful expression lightening his face.

“Really,” Jason confirmed leaning down and carefully nuzzling Dick’s nose with his bruised one and then kissed his forehead. The kid threw his arms around Red Hood’s neck in response and buried his face in his throat, letting out his pent up emotions with a shudder.

“It’s okay. It’s alright. Everything is fine,” Jason crooned, petting Dick’s hair as he cried.

He raised an eyebrow as Tim suddenly moved closer and plastered himself to Dick’s back, wrapping his arms around Jason’s shoulders and trapping the kid between them. Jason grunted at the added weight and all he could do was to make sure they landed on the bed as he lost his balance.

“Get off, Replacement!” Red Hood groaned from under the pile. He was not a pillow dammit!

Dick giggled and Jason couldn’t help but smile at that.

“Nope,” Tim declared, making himself comfortable. “I want cuddles too.”

Because of course Red Robin was deprived of affection too. Dammit. If Dick conditioned them to crave it why they were so opposed to it when it was given?

“Fuck my life,” Jason muttered. “Fine!” he sighed. “Just for a few moments.”


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So much fluff... Like, awww :))

A few moments turned into half an hour. Jason shook himself awake. He was comfortable and warm and just about slipped into a deep sleep before he remembered that there was no way in Hell he was staying at the manor for longer than necessary in the near future. He elbowed Tim away and sat up, holding Dick against his chest. The kid fell asleep fairly easy after they settled and it didn’t seem like he was going to wake up anytime soon if Jason was careful. The plushie fell from Dick’s loose grip. Mini Nightwing was more busy clinging to the real deal, than worrying about the toy.

Tim grumbled his displeasure at Jason waking him from his slumber and moved into warm place Red Hood vacated. Then he reached around Jason, snatched the plushie before Jay could react and snuggled up to it.

“Give it back!” Red Hood hissed after a few seconds of staring in disbelief at his younger brother.

“It’s soft,” Red Robin slurred. “Bye, Jay.”

Jason huffed, but he couldn’t in good conscience take the toy from Tim. Instead he pulled out his phone and took a few pictures as proof for Dick when he would complain about his missing plushie. Besides Dick didn’t need any toys to cuddle anymore. He had Jason now, who was willing to put up with all the hugs Dick could want. And no, Jason was not jealous of a plushie of himself.

He stood up and threw covers over Tim to keep him warm. Then he turned off the lamp and walked out of the room, picking up a bag with Dick’s things and shutting the door gently after him.

Jason slowly crept downstairs, just barely remembering to swing by the kitchen on his way out. He blinked at the bags with packed food waiting on the table. He now understood why Dick cleaned his fridge and didn’t have anything to eat in his entire apartment. He wasn’t kidding when he told him Alfred was giving him tons of food. What was he supposed to do with all of that? He stocked on normal and child friendly food before he came to pick mini Dick up.

He didn’t need more. Still, Alfred’s meals always won over normal food.

Jason picked up two bags, being careful to leave himself some room to maneuver. He eyed the remaining bags. He would need to make three more trips to get everything. But first things first. He needed to get Dick into the car before he buried him in food. Jason made his way to the garage to where Dick’s car was undoubtedly relocated. He took the keys from the rack and headed to the car nearest to the gate. At least he wouldn’t need to maneuver around the mess of cars to make an exit.

Jason put the bags on the floor and unlocked the car. Carefully he slipped into backseat and gently placed Dick in a car seat. The kid made a protesting sound and shifted restlessly. Red Hood paused in figuring out how to strap the damn harness.

“Jay?” Dick mumbled, sleepily blinking at him.

“Shh, go back to sleep,” Jason said quietly. “We’re going home.”

“’m cold,” Dick complained, shivering hard once.

Aww hell, Jason should have figured. It was chilly in the garage, but he hardly noticed. Dick’s small body was more sensitive to the changes in the temperature though. And going from the warmth of Red Hood’s body to the coldness of the car seat and their surroundings was enough to jar the kid into waking up.

“Sorry,” Jason apologized and went back to playing with the car seat. “I’ll get something for you as soon as you’re safe in this thing.”

Dick blinked down and sighed, batting Jason’s hands away.

“Let me,” he said tiredly and unmade Jason’s mess to create his own, which actually seemed to be working.

Jason watched, trying to remember what to do in the future. When Dick was done he pulled a blanket from the bag he packed for Dick and covered the kid, tucking the ends to make sure the chilly air wouldn’t get under the cocoon of warmth.

“I need to get a few things and then we’ll get going,” Jason said, turning to get the bags into the car. “Okay?”

Dick yawned and nodded.

“Can Tim come too?” he asked, snuggling deeper under the blanket.

“Tim?” Red Hood paused in surprise. “Why?” He was the favorite here, dammit, not Replacement.

“He read to me. It was nice,” mini Nightwing shared.

Jason sighed and chuckled, shaking his head. Yeah, he could take the hugs and all, but he was definitely not going to read to his big brother. So since the Baby Bird was so eager, he could take the job.

“He’s asleep now,” he said. “So maybe tomorrow, alright?”

“Okay,” Dick mumbled on the verge of sleep.

Jason smiled, checked that everything was safe and left the car.

“Jason?” he hear Dick call him and he ducked back in making a questioning sound. “Don’t shave my head,” mini Nightwing told him before falling asleep.

What the hell? Jason stared at the sleeping child in bewilderment.


	21. Chapter 21

Dick woke up to the unfamiliar surroundings. He froze in fear for a moment. The last thing he remembered was Tim reading him a book and his nightmare. He wasn’t sure if he dreamed Jason taking him from the manor or not. Quick look to his right at the back of Red Hood confirmed, that he wasn’t. Still, he didn’t see this particular safe house before, and he knew all of the safe houses of his little brothers.

Dick shivered slightly and glared at a still sleeping Jason. He wasn’t cold per see, Jason made sure it was warm enough in the house, apartment, whatever they were, but Dick liked to be toasty when sleeping. And Jason hogged all the covers. A bit of search revealed that none of his plushies were in the vicinity to cuddle up to too.

Dick carefully moved closer to Jason and gently tugged at the end of the duvet to free it from under his little brother’s side. He managed to gain a decent size of the cover before Red Hood just rolled onto his stomach, taking the hard won part of the duvet with him. If Dick didn’t know better he would think Jay did it on purpose. Heaving out an annoyed sigh Dick gave up on the covers and shuffled closer to Jason’s body heat. He barely touched him, more by accident than with any intent, but Jason’s head shoot up, scanning the room for any threat. Finding none he blinked at Dick. Dick blinked back. Jay muttered something incoherent, struggling a little to untangle the covers from around his body. Then he threw a part of it over the child along with his arm, tugged Dick halfway under his body and went back to sleep.

Dick sputtered uselessly, trying to get free, but Red Hood didn’t budge. Giving up, Dick made himself comfortable. After all he wanted warmth and cuddles and Jason was way better than any plushie he could have dreamt of.

When he woke up next, Dick was alone in bed, buried under the mount of covers. He hesitantly slipped out of the bed and made his way toward the noise, where Jason was making breakfast if the smell of food was any indication.

Red Hood was in the kitchen, making pancakes and whistling cheerfully to the song playing quietly on the radio.

“Good morning, Little Wing,” Dick greeted.

Jason raised an eyebrow at him.

“I totally should call you that now,” he mused. “Little Wing.”

They let it ring in the air for a moment and then both grimaced.

“Yeah, no,” Jason decided. “Weird.”

“It’s your name,” Dick agreed. “No one else’s.”

“Whatever you say, Cutie Bird,” Red Hood smirked.

Dick just strode forward into him, wrapping his arms around his waist and burying his face in his stomach. Because Jason was here. Jason came for him and took him with him.

“I missed you,” Dick said, muffled by the shirt.

Jay bend down and picked him up.

“I missed you too, Dickie-Bird,” Red Hood said. “I’m sorry.”

Dick nodded.

“Okay, scram,” Jason ordered kissing his forehead quickly. “Or you’re going to eat burned pancakes.”

Dick giggled and swung himself onto Jason’s back, where he wrapped himself around him like a monkey. Jason sighed and shook hie head but let him be.

“It’s not a safe house I know,” little Nightwing observed, digging his chin into Jay’s shoulder.

Jason paused for a moment.

“It’s not a safe house,” he said quietly. “It’s home.”

Dick almost fell in surprise. Because Jason absolutely hated if one of the Bats showed up in one of his safe houses. He changed them constantly, not staying long in each one for the fear of being discovered by one of them. Even though he knew there was no way they didn’t know where at least few of his safe houses were. So Jason bringing Dick into his home, a place nobody knew about, where he was feeling safe was a huge step for him. And a sign of trust.

The bubble of warmth and happiness at this fact was extinguished as a dread churned in Dick’s stomach. What if Jason felt obliged to do this because of his sense of guilt or something?

“Jay,” Dick started. “You didn’t have to just because-”

“Oh, Sweetie,” Jason sighed fondly, running his hand through Dick’s hair, nuzzling his temple. “I wanted to. Really.”

Dick gripped him harder.

“Thank you,” he whispered and kissed Jason’s cheek shyly. “I know what it means to you, so thank you.”

“Yes, well,” Jason cleared his throat and turned off the stove. “Let’s eat already.”


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all the reviews :) They make my day(s), make me happy and keeps me going with writing this fic ^^ Thank you.

Jason gave Dick two days to get comfortable in the new surroundings and routine. The kid was his energetic bouncy self in no time and even had a better grip on his childish side. That meant less temper tantrums in the rare times he was upset over something. And Jason didn’t need to do anything besides being there, giving a hug once in a while and get used to the limpet on his back.

On the third day Red Hood decided that Baby Brats had to pull their weight and guilt tripped Tim into cutting off his work hours for the day. Then the three of them went to pick Damian from school where Jason glared current Robin into submitting to his plan.

Dick was delighted when Jason declared, that they were going out together. His unbridled joy at having all his little brothers with him at once mellowed some of Tim’s mourning sighs and softened Damian’s scowl.

Jason took them to the newly opened shopping center. It was frustrating to find a place to park the car, but finally Red Hod managed to squeeze between uneven parked cars. Some people, seriously. They made their way inside and looked around curiously. The mall was packed with people, all kind of signs attacked the visitors with greetings and promises of promotion. Jason checked the map and led the way into the throng.

Dick huffed. As nice as it was to know that Damian was worried enough that he took Dick’s hand so he wouldn’t get lost in the crowd, little Nightwing wanted to see something more than people’s behinds. He gave Damian a quick hug and jumped onto Tim’s back. Red Robin made a startled noise and almost threw Dick off of him on instinct as the kid scrambled up onto his shoulders. Jason stopped as well to check on his brothers and watched with amusement as Dick settled himself comfortably on Tim.

“A little warning next time,” Tim requested, gripping Dick’s legs dangling off his shoulders. “I could have hit you.”

“Sorry,” Dick replied sheepishly. “I just wanted to see.”

“You could have say something,” Red Robin grumbled good-naturedly.

Damian scoffed, crossing his arms and glaring at the floor.

“Do you want to too?” Jason asked Damian.

“What?!” Robin sputtered with wide eyes and took a step back. “No! Why would you even think so?”

“No reason,” Red Hood shrugged. “To the front then, Demon, least you get lost.”

“I’m not a child, Todd,” Damian sniffed indignantly, but he moved as instructed. “I know how to take care- Hey! What are you doing, Todd!? Unhand me!” he shrieked.

As Damian walked past him Jason swooped the kid from the floor and sat him on his shoulders, ignoring the incoherent sputtering the action caused.

“Now that we’re settled, let’s go,” Jay said cheerfully.

Dick laughed in delight. Tim grinned. Damian grumbled, but relented, red faced from embarrassment and anger. He refused to feel pleased.

Jason led them to the cinema. They debated what to watch while they were standing in the queue for tickets. They had limited options, since they had two kids with them. Finally they settled on Finding Dory*. Jason purchased the tickets and the four brothers wandered around the center to kill time remaining to their seance. When the time came they headed to the theater armed with popcorn and drinks for the movie.

After the movie ended and they slowly were making their way to the exit among other people, they commented on the similarities to the first movie and what the makers could do for it not to be so repetitive. It was right then and there that they discovered that Damian haven’t seen Finding Nemo. A mistake the older three brothers agreed to rectify as soon as they got to the manor.

Jason sighed in relief as they finally emerged from the stuffed corridor into a little less stuffed passage.

“Alright,” he turned to his brothers. “Do you need something before we go?”

“No,” Tim shook his head. “I’m good.”

“I don’t require anything from this place,” Damian stated.

“Dick?” Jason asked looking around when the input from his older brother didn’t came immediately.

Tim and Damian looked around too in confusion.

Just a moment ago Dick was with them, chattering happily about something and now he was nowhere to be seen.

“Dick!” Jason called louder, carefully scanning the crowd.

A few minute search of the area cemented the fact, that they were one little big brother less.

Shit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * Because they can’t watch The LEGO Batman Movie :( It would be weird :P Or hilarious, hm :>


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all the reviews! ^^  
> I'm going to the cinema on wednesday to see Batman LEGO Movie. Maybe (it's abig, big MAYBE) I'll get an inspiration to write boys watching this, who knows? ;]
> 
> It's nowhere near of how I wanted this chapter to go, so it's short with enough room for maneuver for further action. I hope.

Dick stopped suddenly in trailing after his brothers after the movie, drawn by the quiet, barely audible in the crowd, distressed noise. He went back, ducking around the people leaving the cinema, searching for the source. A few seconds later he found a dark haired girl plastered to the wall to avoid bumping into people. She was a little taller than him, around eight years old and was looking around with frightened eyes and lost expression.

“Mom!” the girl whimpered. “Dad!”

Ah, she was lost then, Dick thought. He made his way over to her with every intention to help. Nevermind he was supposed to be a five years old boy, who shouldn’t wander off on his own.

“Hi,” he greeted the girl with a friendly smile.

She sniffed a bit, wiping her nose on the sleeve of her sweater and looked down at him.

“H-hey,” she said with a hiccup, trying to smile. “Are you lost too?”

Dick looked back to the way he came. No little brother in sight. Oh, Jason was so going to kill him.

“I suppose I am now,” he replied. “What’s your name?”

“Megan,” the girl straightened slightly. “And you?”

“I’m Dick, nice to meet you,” mini Nightwing stuck out his hand, which Megan took. After a quick shake Dick ruffled his hair and pursued his lips. “Listen, why won’t we find someone from the staff? They could help us?”

The girl shook her head.

“My parents said I’m supposed to stay in place if I ever get lost,” she explained. “Didn’t yours tell you this too?”

Dick felt a pang at the thought of his parents. He never got lost in the circus, he knew everybody there, so if he wandered off he always had someone familiar to turn to. He couldn’t remember if his mother or father told him what to do in case he got lost. Logically he knew it was something every parents should say to their children, but he just couldn’t remember. That realization brought tears to his eyes. How horrible son he was for not remembering. How he missed them. How he wanted them with him right now. How he wanted Jason.

“I’m sorry, shh, don’t cry,” the girl hugged him, clumsily petting his hair.

Oh great. He was supposed to be helping her not the other way around. Just how much of a failure he could be? And where are his brothers?

Or maybe they took an opportunity to get rid of him once and for all.

Dick viciously squashed that thought. For the past few days Jason did everything he could to show Dick he was wanted and loved. And Dick slowly started to trust that it was genuine and not just a byproduct of guilt to placate him into his supposed place.

“Maybe you’re right,” Megan mused. “Maybe the people working here will help us find our parents faster.”

Right. They needed to find the girl’s parents. His brothers would find him. Sooner or later, but they would. He pulled himself together and slipped out of Megan’s embrace.

The crowd in corridor was thinning. A few stragglers were still leaving the theater. Nobody paid them any attention. Dick despaired at those people’s empathy. There were two children obviously lost and nobody even offered to help.

“We need to get back inside,” he stated determinedly and grabbed Megan’s hand. “There’s always someone to check if everybody left and stuff. We can ask them.”

“Okay,” the girl nodded and let herself to be pulled to the slowly closing door after some group of teenagers.

They slipped inside. It was quite dark. The screen was already off. And nobody seemed to be there.

“Hello?” Dick called uncertainly.

“Hey, kids, what are you still doing here?” came a voice from the back of the cinema room.

“We got lost,” Megan answered. “Can you help us?”

The man groaned and swiped at his face tiredly.

“Yeah, fine,” he grumbled unenthusiastically. “Just a second.”


	24. Chapter 24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for not updating for so long. Imagination ran out on me and it didn't want to come back for a loong time :(
> 
> Thank you for all of your comments! :) They always make my day!!!

“Alright,” the man, his name tag said ‘Carl’, ushered Dick and Megan into manager’s office. It was conveniently located in the corridor leading to various entrances to the cinema rooms, with the front wall made of glass. “I’m going to call security. And then I’ll check at the entrance if someone was asking for you. Sit down and don’t leave this room. I’ll be right back.”

Carl took the mobile phone from the charger and left the office.

Dick looked at him through the glass as he made a call and then disappeared in the direction of the entrance. He looked at the girl.

“Don’t you have a phone?” he asked, mentally kicking himself in the ass. What was wrong with him? It should have been the first thing he asked her. And he should call one of his brothers, like, right now.

Megan shook her head and grimaced.

“It got taken away until the end of the week as punishment,” she explained, shoulders dropping.

“Oh,” Dick breathed, inching his own phone out. “Do you know your parent’s number? We can call them from my phone...” he trailed off. No matter what button he pressed, the screen remained black. Shit. He didn’t forgot to charge it, did he? His brothers were so going to kill him. After all the lectures he had given them about being safe and to always have their phones on them, fully charged and what not, he had gone and let his own cell’s battery die. Not that he needed it until now. None of the Bats would call Nightwing for help, knowing he couldn’t do much being a kid. And Jason was always there anyway.

“It’s not working?” Megan asked with disappointment.

“Sorry,” Dick sighed sadly. “I forgot to charge it.”

“That’s okay,” the girl comforted. “These nice people will help us.”

“Mhm,” Dick agreed. He hoped that Megan’s parents or his brothers already checked with the cashiers, so they could end this little adventure already.

A few minutes later Carl came back with a bored looking security guard.

Dick made a mental note to keep attention on him and Megan, because he had a feeling the guy wouldn’t care if he lost one of them on the way.

“Okay kids!” Carl said. “Nobody asked for you yet, and you can’t stay here, sorry. This nice mister will take you to the security office, okay? Maybe he will even let you use the intercom in the center to call your parents?” he cinema worker looked questioningly at the guard.

“Sure,” the man shrugged his shoulders. “Come on then,” he commanded, not even looking at the kids and started walking.

Carl winced, offered an apologetic smile to Dick and Megan and ushered them after the security guard. “Hey!” he called to the guard, vaguely threatening, “Don’t loose them now!”

The man paused, sighed in exasperation and waited until the children caught up with him. Then he roughly grabbed their hands and dragged into the crowd.

Dick winced each time at the sharp tug on his arm when someone bumped into him. He saw Megan wasn’t faring much better on the other side of the man. Their complaints fell on deaf ears, though.

Soon they found themselves in the less populated area, the security guard clearly making his way to the side passage for employees only. Only to have their trek interrupted by a man stepping into their way.

He was close to middle-age, clad in a plain, nondescript clothes and was practically crying with fake worry.

“Oh, thank God, you found them!” the man cried, dropping to his knees and gathering Megan and Dick in a very unwanted hug, despite their protests. “Are you alright? Don’t ever wander off from me again! You could get hurt!”

The man picked Dick up, leaning him on his hip and with other hand pulled Megan into his other side.

“Thank you so much for taking care of them!” he cried, playing up the relived father or whatever. Dick wanted to punch him, wasn’t sure why he didn’t. “I’m really grateful. Thank you so, so much!”

“No problem,” the guard replied, clearly relieved he didn’t need to babysit anymore.

“Well, we’re wasted enough of your time,” the man extended his hand for a shake. “Thank you again for finding my kids. Have a good day!”

“You too!” the guard whistled cheerfully as he walked off.

Dick gaped after him. That was it? Not even a halfhearted checkup?

“Now,” the man growled lowly. “Be good or you won’t like the consequences.”

Megan swallowed hard and nodded, scared, wide eyes looking around for help.

“We’re going to the exit. Don’t try to escape,” the man commanded, pushing her a little. “Move!”

The man took the route opposite to the one the guard with Dick and Megan came from. It was still crowded, but not as much as the passage near the cinema. The man kept a running commentary, reprimanding them for all to see and hear, so he didn’t really raise any suspicions at carting around two scared kids.

Dick desperately looked around for something, that could help them escape unharmed. The man had a tight grip on him and Megan. Making a scene would be futile, if the action of the security guard and people around them was any indication. They were alarmingly close to the exit when he finally spied a familiar figure.

Dick took a deep breath and screamed, hoping to be heard over the noise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I bet you won't guess who was that person Dick saw :P


	25. Chapter 25

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Very interesting types, but nope, sorry :)) Fruitpie got it in the first shot, but then started listing other characters ;p So I don't know... Count it as a win? :P  
> Yeah, Fruitpie, have a cookie ^^

“Roy! Roy Harpe-mmphhh” Dick managed before a rough hand slapped over his mouth. He bit down on the hard flesh.

The man cursed and immediately took his hand away, shaking it to get rid of the pain.

“Roy!” Dick called again.

The man backhanded him, letting him drop to the floor. But it didn’t matter as Dick saw Roy making his way through the crowd.

The people around them started to notice, that something was wrong, gathering in a circle. The man pulled a gun and waved it around threateningly. The people scattered and ducked away, some of them screaming. The man grabbed Megan and started to push past the cowering people.

Despite the ringing in his ears Dick threw himself at his legs, trying to stop him. The man kicked at him, catching him in the ribs. Dick curled up, coughing in pain.

But that short delay was enough for Roy to reach them. The redhead immediately disarmed the man and pounded him into unconsciousness.

There was a chaos. People were yelling, running, whistling and clapping. Dick couldn’t be bothered to keep track of what was going down around him though, too focused on gasping through the fading pain. He didn’t think anything was broken, but fuck, did it hurt. He just wanted to curl into miserable ball in Jason’s arms and let him soothe the soreness. Providing, that none of his brothers would kill him for this stunt first.

Suddenly there were hands on him and Dick jerked back violently. He would not go down without a fight! Only if he could convince his aching body of that fact.

“Whoa, kid,” a familiar voice said near him. “Calm down. You’re safe. I promise.”

“Roy,” Dick croaked, opening his eyes he had tightly shut since he received that kick. A blurry image of the worried redhead greeted him. He blinked a couple times and felt tears running down his cheeks. Oh, right. He wiped at his eyes with his sleeve. Yeah, his vision improved very much. “What about Megan?”

Suspicious green eyes shifted to look to the side. Dick followed his gaze.

Megan was a few feet away with a woman hovering over her and a security guard watching her like a hawk. He looked familiar. Like one of the two other guards dragging the man away. Dick frowned. Where did he see them before?

“Hey, kiddo,” Roy got his attention gently. “How are you feeling? Does it hurt anywhere?”

Dick nodded, sniffing. Megan was safe. He was safe. Roy was ere and Dick didn’t need to keep a level head. It was over.

“Okay, little guy,” Roy smoothed his hair. It felt nice, but it still wasn’t what he wanted. “Stay still, this nice lady will check you over in a minute.”

“No,” Dick protested, sitting up despite Roy’s protests. “I’m okay. Just bruises.”

“You can be hurt very badly,” the redhead tried to explain patiently. “You may have broken bones in your body and that could be bad and ache very much.”

“Nothing’s broken,” Dick muttered irritably at being babied. Never mind he wanted Jason to do just that. “I know how that feels.”

“What?” Roy growled.

Oops, someone was getting a visit from a very pissed off Arsenal. Oh, wait. There was nobody to visit, because Dick wasn’t a child. Especially an abused one.

“Roy,” Dick whimpered pathetically.

“How do you know my name?” Roy asked.

Dick bit back a sob. Well, shit. He was better at controlling his childish outbursts lately, but now he was exhausted and in pain and just really wanted his brother to be here.

Sensing an impending emotional meltdown he crawled into Roy’s lap, whom was kneeling next to him, and threw his arms around his neck. Roy was taken aback at first, but then hesitantly hugged him back.

“Roy,” Dick hiccuped.

“Shhh, kiddo,” the redhead soothed, rubbing his back comfortingly. “It’s okay now.”

Dick shook his head.

“Roy,” the man-child said with the remnants of his calmness. “I want Jason.”

Roy froze.

Dick didn’t care, he just started to wail.


	26. Chapter 26

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An odd ending, because this chapter somehow didn't want to end :P

Whatever Roy expected from this little escapade, it certainly wasn’t this.

He got a message from Jason earlier that day, requesting for a meeting at the new shopping center, because Jason wanted to show him something. And since Jason kept low profile these past few days, Roy was equally curios and dreaded of what was going on.

Roy barely put his foot inside the center, sighing in resignation at the sight of the crowded people bustling around, when he heard his name being called. His head snapped in that direction and his blood boiled.

There was a man, holding a small boy and trying to shut him up. When that didn’t work he backhanded him, letting the kid fell down.

Roy doubled his efforts in reaching them, not even paying attention to the gun, until he had the fucker unconscious on the floor with the crowd cheering and clapping. He took a couple calming breaths, looking around and spotting security coming their way. A few looked awfully familiar. Roy wasn’t hanging much around Gotham, but even he could recognize some of Red Hood’s men. Briefly he wondered what they were doing here, but he decided to think about it later and focused on the kid.

The boy was curled up, gasping for breath and had tears streaming down his face from tightly shut eyes.

Roy gritted his teeth and sorely regretted knocking the man out so quickly. He knelt down and reached for the boy, who flinched away.

“Whoa, kid,” Roy said, a little surprised at such strong reaction. “Calm down. You’re safe. I promise.”

“Roy,” the kid muttered hoarsely, wiping his eyes.

Roy narrowed his eyes. How the kid knew his name? He looked closely at the boy, suspicion forming in his mind at the familiar look of him. Black hair, blue eyes, Red Hood t-shirt, blue jeans, red hoodie. Wait. What? Red Hood shirt? There were Red Hood themed shirts? The suspicion evolved from Batman taking in another stray to the kid being Jason’s actual child. Oh, boy. No. Nope. Not happening. This was merely a coincidence and whatever Jason wanted to show him had to be related to his men being there.

“What about Megan?” the boy asked.

Roy glanced at the little girl being fussed over by a woman, who he vaguely remembered claiming to have a medical training and was checking her for injures. The kid followed his gaze and then frowned in confusion at the security guards. Filling that for thinking about later, Roy asked if the boy was hurt.

“Okay, little guy,” he soothed, running his hand through the boy’s hair. If the man wasn’t already dragged away by the guards he would kill him. “Stay still, this nice lady will check you over in a minute.”

“No,” the kid protested, struggling to sit up.

Roy tried to keep him laying down, but the boy was stubborn and eventually Roy let him win the struggle in fear he was doing more damage keeping him moving around.

“I’m okay. Just bruises,” the kid reassured.

Roy resisted the urge to scream at him in worry and instead tried to calmly explain to him in baby terms, that he could be gravely injured. It seemed to annoy the kid for some reason.

“Nothing’s broken,” the boy almost snapped. “I know how that feels.”

The implications of that statement did nothing to reassure the redhead. Quite the opposite.

“What?” Roy growled, more than ready to tear apart whoever thought it was okay to lay a hand on the child.

The kid eyed him speculatively and then visibly crumbled with a whimper of his name.

Now Roy just had to know.

“How do you know my name?” he asked.

But instead of answering, the kid crawled into his lap and latched onto his neck. Roy’s fatherly instincts kicked in and he wrapped his arms around the boy, rubbing his back in comfort.

“Shhh, kiddo,” he crooned softly.“It’s okay now.”

Roy felt the kid shaking his head, before demanding a Jason and starting crying in earnest. He froze, because the boy couldn’t mean Jason Todd, the Red Hood. He just couldn’t. Not when Roy finally convinced himself, that meeting the kid was just a total accident.

He sighed heavily in resignation and tried to calm the kid down. Somebody put a hand on his arm and he turned to see the woman finished with Megan and now wanted to check on the boy. The security guard, who watched them lowered himself to one knee and started asking the little girl questions.

“I’ll take him,” the woman prompted, extending her hands expectantly.

Fuck. The last thing Roy wanted was to hand the boy over to a complete stranger. But if it was indeed Jason’s kid, he would kill the redhead for not allowing him to be checked over for injures. With a heavy heart Roy untangled the child from him and transferred the boy into woman’s waiting hands.

The kid started to scream a bloody murder the second Roy let go. Roy winced and quickly stepped aside to make a call, leaving the startled woman to console the little guy.

Roy pulled the phone from his pocked and selected Jason’s number, nervously waiting for him to pick up, which he did almost immediately.

“What?” was growled at him.

“Did you lose something?” Roy asked vaguely. He didn’t want to make a fool of himself, if the kid was actually a complete stranger.

“He’s with you?” Jason asked at once. Roy didn’t miss his relieved tone of voice.

“Yeah,” the redhead managed before Jay was demanding where they were. “Near the main entrance from the parking lot, but we might go to the security office.”

“On my way,” Jason replied and hung up.

Roy sighed, pocketing his phone and turned back to his charge. And cringed.

The kid was red in the face, clearly hyperventilating and struggling. The poor woman was pale and confused and barely managed not to drop him.

Roy quickly crossed to them and whisked the boy from her. He wrapped his hands around him, talking soothingly. It did nothing to calm the kid down. A few minutes later Roy was getting desperate and started considering knocking the boy out. Fortunately Jason showed up, practically flying through the crowd towards them, Tim and Damian hot on his heels.

Roy barely opened his mouth before Jason grabbed at the kid and hugged him so tightly to his chest, that Roy worried the boy would suffocate.

“Hey, hey,” Jason soothed. “I’m here. It’s okay.”

The kid sobbed with relief, latching onto Jason just as tightly as he was being held. The panicked, terrified screaming, turned to a normal baby crying as Jay rocked back and forth.

“Are you the father?” the woman asked. Why was she still hovering here?

Jason nodded distractedly, busy with calming the kid down.

Roy felt very faint. Oh, God, it was Jason’s kid! But how?! Jason was too young to have a kid this age.

Tim sighed and pulled his phone out, typing something quickly.

Roy supposed he was texting Bruce to let him know Jason managed not to kill his own son yet. The redhead barely suppressed the hysterical laugh, that bubbled up in his chest at the thought.

“My name is Patricia Lacy,” the woman introduced herself. “I’m a nurse at Gotham General. I’d like to check your son over. He might be hurt.”

“What?” Jason’s head snapped up. Tim and Damian gave the woman their undivided attention too.

“Yeah,” Roy nodded. “He was being kidnapped, I think. And the kidnapper hit him and then kicked him. I recon in the ribs?”

Jason looked positively homicidal.

“He said it’s just bruises and he could move well enough on his own,” Roy quickly added. “So...”

“Still,” the woman insisted, “I’d like to check. Your son was too agitated earlier for me to examine him.”

Roy saw Jason considering the offer for a moment and then reluctantly he nodded.

“Hey,” he nudged the kid in his arms, who almost stopped crying. “This nice lady will check if you’re hurt, okay?”

“I’m fine,” the boy sniffed.

“I wasn’t asking,” Jason countered.

The kid slumped in defeat, so Jason took this as his cue to untangle the child from around him, narrowing his eyes at the bruise, that started forming on boy’s cheek. Then there was a moment of silence, when nobody moved. Jason raised an eyebrow.

“Well?” he prompted.

“Oh,” the woman rushed forward, flustered a bit. She was clearly expecting for the child to be handed over to her. Ha, as if!

First, she examined kid’s face, then she smoother her hands down his sides and grabbed at the hem of the shirt. The kid instantly flinched away with a protesting noise and went back to clinging to Jason.

“What the hell are you doing?” Jay growled.

“I’m sorry,” the woman backed off. “I just wanted to see his ribs for better assessment.”

Roy noticed his friend starting to lose his patience as his child grew more distressed by the second. Holy shit! Jason had a kid. What was his name? How old he was? Who was his mother?

“I think you’re done here, harlot,” Damian ordered.

“Excuse me?” the woman blinked down at him, stunned.

“Are you deaf as well as stupid?” the little Wayne snorted. “Go away. Now!”

“Damian,” Tim warned the boy and smiled apologetically at Patricia. “Sorry about that. He still needs to work on his manners. We appreciate your concern. We’ll get him checked over by our family doctor immediately.”

Someone cleared their throat next to them. Everyone looked at the security guard. He was watching them, keeping a little girl close to him.

“Excuse me,” the guard said, “but this child needs to come with me. And you too, mister,” he gestured at Roy. “We need to confirm your identities before we hand the kids over to you.”

“Understandable,” Jason nodded and started to walk in the direction of the security office.

Damian tutted and followed.

“Shall we?” Tim asked with a tired smile.

Roy shrugged and started walking.


	27. Chapter 27

After a few minutes of searching for his missing brother and hundreds of unsuccessful tries to contact him via phone, Tim sighed resignedly and ran a hand through his hair, tugging at it lightly. They already checked the immediate area once more despite the throng of people milling around. Now Jason and Damian widened the perimeter, though Tim had a feeling, that finding Dick wouldn’t be possible without getting other people involved. And that came with it’s own set of problems.

Tim left the search in capable hands of his two other, overprotective brothers and found himself a quiet bit of space. He checked his phone again for missing calls or texts, but finding none he tapped into his hidden app and started to set up a false identity for Dick. Nothing too complicated, he didn’t have time for that, just enough to hold up in the cursory search. Something they should have done a lot sooner, considering their lives.

Fifteen minutes later the three brothers met back at the cinema, taking the time to actually ask the workers about missing kid. Their hope was crushed as they learned, that only a pair of siblings was reported to have been escorted to the security office. Still, checking with security seemed their only option now.

After a moment of Damian and Jason arguing about which way to go, Tim sighed and like any other sensible person went back to the cashier in the cinema and asked for directions. When he got back a minute later, his brothers still were at it. Tim smirked, the little brat would be pissed, that he was in the wrong. He was about to interrupt their senseless squabbling, when Jason’s phone went off. Jason accepted the call, growling in irritation at whoever was on the other end, and then went almost boneless with relief.

Looks like they found their missing brother.

Jason took off without a word, Tim and Damian trailing behind him. They heard the screams before they saw anything out of the ordinary. Jason quickened his pace, cutting through the crowd like a knife. Tim hurried along, throwing apologies in their wake at people whom Red Hood pushed out of the way. Jason went straight to Roy, taking a hysterical Dick from him. Dick started to calm down as soon as Jason let him know he was back with them.

“Are you the father?” asked a woman hovering near them.

Tim bit back a groan as Jason nodded. The cover story he created utterly destroyed. He pulled his phone out and started to link Dick’s false identity with most recent aliases Jason was using.

“He might be hurt,” the tail end of the woman’s speech grabbed Tim’s attention. He looked at her along with his brothers. Dick was hurt?

Roy quickly explained what happened. Tim was glad, the man responsible wasn’t around. Going by the murderous looks on Jason’s and Damian’s faces he wouldn’t have any chances to survive. Not that Tim felt at all charitable toward the man, but he didn’t want to deal with murder on top of everything else.

Jason agreed to the nurse examining their brother. It didn’t go too well. Especially because Demon Brat decided to get involved.

“Damian,” Tim warned the boy and smiled apologetically at the woman. Patricia was her name, right? He’ll need to check her later. “Sorry about that. He still needs to work on his manners. We appreciate your concern. We’ll get him checked over by our family doctor immediately.”

Tim was hoping that that was that. But of course not. Security guard invited them firmly to the office. Now, that Tim was focusing on everything else, didn’t he look awfully familiar? He raised questioning eyebrow at Jason, but his older brother was too busy with Dick to notice. He just stalked in the direction of the security office as ordered. Damian followed him close behind.

Tim shook his head exasperatedly and looked at Roy. Poor redhead looked dazed.

“Shall we?” he asked him with a tired smile.

Roy shrugged and they started walking.

Tim estimated, that they were halfway through, when Roy leaned in.

“Is the girl Jay’s kid, too?” the redhead asked.

“The girl?” Tim blinked. Indeed, the security guard was guiding a young girl by the hand, leading their small procession. How he didn’t notice her before?

“Megan?” Roy tried. “That boy. What’s his name, by the way? Oh my God, how Jay didn’t ever tell me he had a kid? Kids? Anyway, the boy asked about her.”

“I don’t know her,” Red Robin replied, smiling in amusement. Roy will have to think Dick was Jason’s kid for a while still. He just couldn’t risk talking about their predicament in public. Not now at least. “As for a name,” Tim smirked, “it’s Richard.”

Roy stumbled.

“No fucking way!” he hissed. “If Jay was to name a kid after someone it should be me!”

Oh, this was too good. It was a shame his brothers were missing out on the fun.

“He didn’t have any say in naming the boy,” Tim shrugged.

“Well,” Roy sighed sadly, running his hand across his face. “That’s cruel.”

Tim hummed noncommittally, glancing at his brothers.

Jason was calmer somewhat with Dick’s face buried into his heck, whom seemed asleep. He even made a small talk with the guard. Damian was glaring at anyone who dared to come near them. For some reason that woman, nurse, was accompanying them still. She stayed away from Damian, though.

“I’d pay to see Bruce’s reaction,” Roy muttered. “I bet Grandpa Brucie was soo thrilled.”

“I’m sure some footage can be found,” Tim offered.

“Really?” the redhead looked at the younger boy hopefully.

“Oh, Roy,” Red Robin patted him on the shoulder. “You don’t know even half of it.”

Roy narrowed his eyes suspiciously, but refrained from commenting as they reached their destination.


	28. Chapter 28

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Huh, last week passed a year since I started writing this (not publishing). Wow. A year. I should at least start getting to the point by now, right? :/ Thank you all for sticking with the story for so long :) Here, have some fic birthday cake and cookies while reading this chapter ;) [places a huge cake and several large plates of cookies on the table]
> 
> Enjoy.
> 
> Ending of this chapter is a bit rushed, because the inspiration left me as suddenly as it appeared :(

He resisted an urge to sigh and pinch the bridge of his nose as soon as he stepped inside the security office. And his day was going so well today. He managed to do all of his paperwork, his men were well rested for once, and the more violent criminals apparently took the day off as well. This call to the mall was the most serious case, that was reported to the police as of today. So of course his troublemakers were involved. He should just know.

“Commissioner,” the security officer apparently in charge greeted him, slightly surprised.

“Officer,” he nodded back in greeting and surveyed the room more closely.

A woman with a girl in her lap, Jason, Dick, Tim, Damian and a redheaded young man, who was familiar to him, were sat on one side of the room. Dick was blinking drowsily in Jason’s arms, clearly just woken up, but smiled at him sleepily as he saw him. The kid had a bruise on his cheek and he frowned in displeasure. Someone was going to pay. The rest of the boys were glaring murder at the other side of the room, where a lone figure was slumped in the chair, unconscious. Ah, so that was the culprit. The man was bleeding from his broken nose and most likely was missing some teeth, but nobody seemed to care, beside two guards, whom were standing with him between them to make sure no one attacked him or he wouldn’t escape when he woke up.

“Take him away,” he commanded to the two policemen, who came with him inside. “And send someone to take statements.”

The police officers nodded and moved to haul the kidnapper out. The tension in the room dissipated the instant, the man was out of sight.

“Any security footage would be appreciated,” Gordon said to the guard in charge.

“On it, sir,” one of the two now free security officers volunteered instantly and disappeared into small alcove on the side.

“So, what happened?” Commissioner asked. “Anyone hurt?”

“Megan is fine,” the woman said before anyone else could start, “just a little scared. The boy however will have sore ribs for a while.”

“I’m fine,” Dick mumbled as soon as she mentioned him.

“Sir,” the guard reported, “the suspect was hitting the boy and wanted to take the girl. He pulled out a gun and threatened other people. Then mister Harper here subdued him and he was taken into custody.”

Ah, yes, Roy Harper. The adopted son of Oliver Queen. Going by the easiness of Batman’s boys with him, apparently another Cape. Gordon looked closer at the redhead. Yeah, Arsenal perhaps. Wait. If Roy was Arsenal, did that mean Queen was the Green Arrow? Who else? Every rich man, that existed?

No. He needed to stop thinking about it and suspect everyone Wayne was associated with for vigilantism. Hell, he was _this_ close to claiming, that this reporter whom showed now and again to make an interview with Bruce for his newspaper in Metropolis was actually The Superman! Which was ridiculous and he wasn’t going to tell about this idea to anyone. Ever.

“Are you Megan’s mother?” Gordon asked the woman.

“What?” she startled. “Oh, no. I’m a nurse. After witnessing the whole scene I stayed to check if the kids were alright.”

“I see,” he hummed. “Were the girl’s parents called?”

“Sir,” the other security guard stepped forward. “Megan doesn’t remember her parents number well, so we paged them through the intercom. We’re waiting for them to come.”

“Alright,” Commissioner nodded and crouched down to be at eye level with Megan. “Hi, my name is Jim. Your parents will be here soon. Are you okay to wait here with us? Miss...” he paused, looking at the nurse.

“Patricia Lacy,” she introduced herself.

“Miss Lacy has to go to tell this policeman,” he gestured at the officer with a notepad, whom came while they were talking, “what happened.”

Megan nodded and scrambled from woman’s lap into Roy’s, whom was sitting next to them. The redhead looked surprised, but he let her settle on him.

“Thank you,” the girl looked up at him. “You helped us. You’re nice.” She frowned in worry, “Is Dick alright? He was crying.”

“I’m okay,” Dick said, crawling out of Jason’s arms onto Tim’s lap to be closer.

Gordon looked warily at Red Hood. Clearly he wasn’t happy with letting his charge free, but he held himself back easily enough.

“Miss Lacy, this way, please,” the officer gestured outside.

The woman looked at the assembled people, grabbed her things and left with the policeman.

Everything went smoothly after that, if a little too long for the kids. Megan’s parents showed up and they went with her to give her statement. Dick went dead to the world as soon as he finished recounting the events from his side. Jason didn’t let him go even for a second. By the time they were finished with other boys it was already dark outside.

Jim sighed. Even though he let young men go, the work for Commissioner and his policemen was far from over. And man, he needed to place an extra security for the perpetrator. You just never know when the Bats were involved. Gordon sighed again, mournfully. It was such a nice day.

**Author's Note:**

> I hate adding tags, they spoil the fun, but I recognize the need for them, so I'll be updating them as the next chapters need. Rating is T for now, but later will be changed to M.  
> Updates once every week or two. Comments usually inspire me to write faster ;)


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